156 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



than leave the eggs. The eggs (Plate 54), normally four, are 

 laid in March or April ; they var)', but a not unusual type is like 

 a small egg of the Lapwing with a very light ground. The 

 nestlings, which crouch for concealment like other waders, are 

 rich buff, with black lines or curves on the head and back. 

 The legs are very pale yellow, and the bill blackish olive. 



In summer dress the upper parts are brown, barred, speckled 

 and streaked with darker brown ; the streaked neck and breast 

 are paler, and the flanks are barred. At all seasons and any 

 age the lower back is white, the upper tail-coverts and tail are 

 white barred with black, and the axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts are white. The general colour is more ashy in winter, 

 and the under parts are purer ; the upper parts of the immature 

 bird are buffer, and the streaks are more marked on the breast 

 and flanks, but the most marked difference is in the colour of 

 the legs, w^hich are yellow. These in the adult bird are 

 orange-red, as is the base of the bill, the tip being black. 

 The irides are blackish brown. Length, 12 ins. Wing, 6*5 ins. 

 Tarsus, 1*9 ins. 



Spotted Redshank. Tr'uiga maadata (Tun St.). 



The Spotted or Dusky Redshank (Plate 64) is a rare visitor 

 on passage from its Arctic European or Asiatic home to winter 

 quarters in Africa ; it also occurs on the northward migration, 

 and has been recorded in the winter months. Though irregular, 

 it has most frequently been noticed in south-eastern counties, 

 but has occasionally occurred in the west, and in Scotland and 

 Ireland. April, May, and June, and August and September, 

 are the months when most have been seen. 



The Spotted is a larger, taller bird than the Common Red- 

 shank ; its bill and legs are longer. It can always be told from 

 the commoner bird, even in the field when its red legs might 

 confuse, by the secondaries, which are barred with black and 



