41. NUMENIUS. 345 



the inner ones brown, the primaries notched or barred, on the inner 

 web only, with sandy buff or whitish, the inner primaries being 

 thus marked on both webs, the secondaries distinctly barred with 

 brown and white, both webs being deeply notched with ashy 

 whitish, the innermost secondaries ashy brown with dusky brown 

 cross bars, the centre of the feathers being also dusky brown ; lower 

 back and rump pure white with black longitudinal spots or streaks, 

 a little more distinct on the rump ; the upper tail-coverts barred 

 with black and white or with sagittate sub-terminal spots, the longer 

 ones tinged with sandy buff and the brown bars often not coter- 

 minous ; tail white or slightly tinged with sandy buff, or shaded with 

 ashy brown and crossed with nine or ten rather broad bars of 

 blackish brown ; head dark brown, the feathers edged with sandy 

 buff, giving a streaked appearance ; the neck more ashy, streaked 

 with brown ; over the eye a white streak, narrowly lined with 

 black ; sides of face and sides of neck, throat, and chest pale sandy 

 buff streaked with blackish brown, more narrowly on the sides of 

 the face ; chin and upper throat white ; breast, abdomen, sides of 

 body, thighs, and under tail-coverts white, streaked with dark 

 brown on the breast, and very narrowly on the abdomen and under 

 tail-coverts ; thighs uustreaked ; sides of body with distinct bars or 

 sagittate markings of dark brown ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 pure white, mottled with blackish centres to the feathers, the 

 axillaries more or less regularly barred with blackish or with a 

 sub-terminal heart-shaped spot ; lower primary-coverts and quills 

 below ashy grey with white notches to the inner webs : " bill 

 fleshy brown, shading into dark brown towards the tip ; feet dusky ; 

 iris brown" (G. E. Shelley). Total length 21 inches, culmen 4*75, 

 wing 11, tail 4-25, tarsus 2-9. 



Adult female in breeding-plumage. Similar to the male, but 

 larger, and with a longer bill. Total length 24 inches, culmen 6-1, 

 wing 12, tail 5-7, tarsus 3 - 2. 



Adults in winter plumage. Very similar to the breeding-plumage, 

 but paler, and much less heavily striped, especially on the under 

 surface of the body ; the black spots and streaks on the rump 

 scarcely apparent, and concealed by the white plumage ; upper tail- 

 coverts white, with very few brown cross-bars ; tail white, barred 

 with brown : " feet pale leaden grey, claws blackish ; bill blackish 

 brown, flesh-colour at the base of the lower mandible " {A. 0. Hum, \. 



There is evidently a spring moult, but whether partial or entire I 

 have not been able to determine. The breeding-plumage is gained 

 by a widening of the longitudinal centres to the feathers, of which 

 the pattern changes on several portions of the body. Such parts as 

 the rump and the abdomen and under tail-coverts have scarcely any 

 visible streaks, but these appear with the summer plumage, and 

 these streaks are gained by a change of the feather. The sides of 

 the body change from a streaked to a barred appearance, this being 

 effected by a preliminary widening of the brown centres to the 

 feathers which develop into bars without any direct moult. The 

 innermost secondaries, at the autumn moult, seem to be entirely 

 uniform, and the bars make their appearance gradually. 



