6. STERXA. 65 



backwards to the side of the neck ; mantle pearl-grey ; secondaries 

 broadly edged with white, and the inner webs chiefly white ; outer 

 web of outside primary blackish, shaft white, inside which a parallel 

 line of grej', seldom exceeding O'lo inch in width in the middle, rest 

 of the inner web white, except near the tip, where it is grey, the 

 succeeding primaries with a gradual increase of grey ascending the 

 inner margins ; tail-coverts conspicuously white ; tail-feathers 

 white, with a faint grey tinge on the outer webs and dark grey 

 outer webs to the streamers ; vent and under wing-coverts wliite ; 

 abdomen and breast french-grey, without any vinaceous tint ; chin 

 paler grey : bill blood-red ; tarsi and toes coral-red. Total length 

 14'5 inches, culmen 1-6, wing 10"25, tail 7*5 to 8, depth of fork 5, 

 tarsus 0-7, middle toe and claw O'So. 



Female. Similar, with slightly shorter tail-streamers. 



Adult in u'inter. Forehead and crown mottled with white, under- 

 parts paler grey, colours of the bill and feet duller ; otherwise 

 as in summer. 



Inwiature. Like the above, but forehead and crown nearly white, 

 a dark grey band on the upper wing-covcrts, more grey in the outer 

 webs of the tail-feathers, and underparts white : bill and feet 

 nearly black. Eirds in this stage have been named S. 2J0rtlamUca ; 

 they keep together in large flocks, and as they do not frequent the 

 breeding-places of the adults, they are rarely obtained until after 

 their second autumnal moult, by which time their plumage is almost 

 identical with that of the adult in winter. 



Young. Mottled and barred with buff on the upper surface ; bill 

 yellow at the base, tip horn-colour ; feet yellow up to October, 

 afterwards browner ; forehead white, occiput blackish, sides of 

 neck and flanks tinged with buff ; a considerable amount of grey in 

 the outer webs of the tail-feathers. 



KcstJing. Yerj- similar to that of *S'. finviatilis, with perhaps a 

 tendency to more pronounced black on the throat ; upper parts with 

 a huffish ground-colour, which seems to be very variable in tint. 



Hah. Circumpolar and northern regions of the Old and Xew 

 Worlds, breeding from 82^ N. lat. (or higher ?) down to about 

 50° N. in Europe and 42° in America. In winter, southwards 

 to the coasts and waters of Peru, Chile, Brazil, Africa, and even to 

 66° S, lat. in the Southern Ocean ! 



a. Ad. St. Scilly Islands. D. W. Mitchell, Esq. 



[P.]. 



b. c? ad. ; c, d. Shoreham, Sussex. R. B. Sharpe, Esq. 

 Juv. St. [P.]. 



e. Juv. sk. Pagham Harbour, Oct. [R. B. S.). Tweeddale Coll. 



f. Juv. sk. Bognor, Sept. Gould Coll. 



ff. Juv. St. Near Croydon, Oct. Lt.-Col. L. H. Irby 



h. Juv. St. Halstead. [P.]. 



i. (J juv. sk. Great Yarmouth, Oct. Seebohm Coll. 



k. 2 j"^'- sk. Blakeney, Aug. ol {Dock). Hume Coll. 



/. Imiu. sk. Spurn Head, Yorks., July ( W. H. Saunders Coll. 



£. Clarke ; " S. portlandica " 



stage). 



