COMMON REDSHANK. 473 



In winter the beak is black at the point, dark red at the 

 base ; the irides brown ; from the angle of the mouth to the 

 eye a dusky streak, over that and the eye a white streak ; 

 the top of the head, the back of the neck, the whole of 

 the back and wing-coverts, ash-brown ; the wing-primaries 

 almost black ; the rump white ; the tail-feathers white, 

 the inner ones tinged with grey, barred transversely with 

 brownish-black ; the chin, the neck in front, breast, belly, 

 and under tail-coverts white, with a few slight dusky streaks 

 in the line of the shafts of the feathers ; legs and toes orange- 

 red in the adult : lemon-yellow in birds of the year ; the 

 claws black. 



In its spring plumage, when assuming by degrees the 

 darker markings peculiar to the breeding-season, the greater 

 coverts and tertials are varied with spots, brownish-black on 

 the edges, and the white parts of the front of the neck, and 

 all the under surface of the body, sides, and flanks are 

 spotted and streaked with brownish-black. By the first week 

 in June the lighter ash-coloured edges of the wing- coverts 

 and tertials are more strongly marked with brownish-black ; 

 a few dark-coloured feathers appear on the back ; the general 

 plumage of the back is tinged with brown, and the black 

 streaks and spots on the white surface of the neck and breast 

 are more conspicuous. 



The sexes resemble each other in their colours, but the 

 females are larger than the males. The whole length of an 

 adult female is about eleven inches. From the carpal joint 

 to the end of the wing, six inches and three-quarters. 



The nestling is of a dull buffy-white on the under, and 

 rufous-buff on the upper parts ; from the base of the bill to 

 the eye a blackish streak ; an indistinct streak on each 

 side of the crown, and a distinct one down the centre, 

 with mottlings on the nape, all of the same dark colour ; 

 back longitudinally streaked with irregular alternate mark- 

 ings of black and yellowish-white, inclining to rufous on 

 wings ; bill brownish ; legs dull yellow. 



vol.. III. ;{ p 



