398 CHAEADBIIDJE. 



dusky streaks ; throat, chest, and sides of the body white, with 

 dusky streaks on the former and small bars on the latter, the lower 

 throat and fore-neck shaded with ashy ; lower breast and abdomen 

 pure white, unspotted ; under tail-coverts white, with distinct black 

 spots ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, with black spots on 

 the former, the greater series with bars of an irregular form, the cross- 

 markings on the axillaries broken up into spots and irregularly shaped 

 bars, some of which are sub-marginal. 



Young birds are like the winter plumage of the adults, but are 

 very much darker ashy brown, the feathers of the back black edged 

 with rufous, before which is a mark of black ; the grey on the 

 throat is altogether darker and is washed with rufous, and there is 

 a distinct wash of rufous all over the breast and on the under tail- 

 coverts ; the bars on the axillaries are distinct, but are fewer in 

 number than in the adult. 



Specimens from Western North America are, as a rule, larger 

 than Eastern birds, and are said by Mr. Eidgway to have the 

 " cinnamon colour of the underparts deeper and much more uniform, 

 covering the entire belly, the sides distinctly barred with dusky." 

 M. griseus, the Eastern race, has the belly whitish, according to 

 Mr. Eidgway; but I think that this is only due to the whitish 

 edges, which are plainly indicated on the rufous feathers of the 

 under surface, and remain longer on the abdomen than any other 

 part of the body, but ultimately wear off even on the abdominal 

 plumes. Mr. Seebohm does not attach any importance to the 

 difference in colour between the two races, and I myself think 

 that it is probably due to age, the older individuals becoming 

 darker and more vinous. The measurements of the culmen, given 

 by Mr. Ridgway and by Mr. Seebohm, show that these completely 

 overlap in the two races, and I can see no reason for keeping them 

 separate on this account. In the list of specimens given below 

 will be found detailed the length of the culmen in the series in the 

 British Museum ; and it will be seen that no differences coincident 

 with a separate geographical distribution can be found, but that, on 

 the contrary, the length of the bill varies in a great degree. I 

 have an idea that, Godwit-like, the female has a longer bill than 

 the male, and that some of the specimens marked as males have 

 been wrongly determined. Both races occur in winter in Texas 

 and Elorida, and the same diversity in dimension of bill is seen in 

 a series from the winter-quarters of the bird. I have therefore 

 not kept M. scolopaceus distinct from M. griseus. 



Hob. Breeds in Arctic Eastern Siberia and Arctic America, and 

 wanders south on migration as far as Southern Brazil, wintering in 

 Central and South America. Accidental in Europe. 



a. Ad. sk. N. America. Riocour Coll. 



(Type of S. leucop/icea, Vieill.) 



b. Ad. sk. Arctic America. Salvin-Godruan Coll. 



c. c?juv.[cul. 2 - 2]; Point Barrow, Alaska, Aug. Salvin-Godman Coll. 

 d, e. 5 juv. sk. (J. Murdoch). 



[c. 2-8]. 



