116 MANUAL OF PHILimXE BIRDS. 



or less regularly barred with blackish or with subterniinal. heart-shaped 

 spots; lower primary-coverts and q\iills l^elow ashy gray with white 

 notches to the inner webs. 'Bill fleshy brown, shading into dark brown 

 toward the tip; feet dnsky; iris brown.' (ShcUey.) Length, 533; 

 culmen, 121 ; wing, 279 ; tail, 108 ; tarsns, 74. 



"Adult female in breeding plumage. — Similar to the male, but larger, 

 and with a longer bill. Length, 610; culmen, 1.55; wing, 305; tail, 

 145; tarsus, 81. 



"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 

 gray, claws blackish; bill blackish brown, flesh-color at the base of the 

 lower mandible." (Hume.) 



"There is evidently a spring molt, but whetlier partial or entire 1 have 

 not been able to determine. The breeding plumage is gained by a 

 widening of the longitudinal centers to the feathers, of whicli 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 are gained by a change of the 

 feather. The sides of the body change from a streaked to a barred appear- 

 ance, this being effected by a preliminary widening of the brown centers 

 to the feathers which develop into bars without any direct molt. The 

 innermost secondaries, at the autumn molt, seem to be entirely uniform, 

 and the bars make their appearance gradually. 



"Young. — Differs from the adult in being much more tawny, and, as 

 Seebohm has pointed out, young birds may always be distinguished from 

 the old ones by the much ligliter patterns of tlie notches and bars in the 

 innermost secondaries, these markings l)eing tawny l)uff, and the black 

 centers to the feathers being much broader." (Sharpe.) 



This large curlew is extremely wary and although individuals are 

 occasionally seen on tide-flats, they are difficult to kill. 



100. NUMENIUS CYANOPUS Vicillot. 



ASIATIC CUELEW. 



Xi(nienius ci/aiiopus Vieillot. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. (1817). 8, 300; Shakpe, 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 3-50; Hand-List (18i)9), 1, 158; 

 McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 24. 



Bohol (McGregor) ; Cebu (McGregor) ; Negros (Steere Ejcp., Bourns d Wor- 

 cester). .Japan and eastern Siberia, in winter to Australia. 



"Adult female in breeding plumage. — Similar to ..V. are/uatus and of 

 the same size, but distinguished by the dark lower back and rump and 



