The curlew sandpipers. 241 



Adult Female in Summer Plumage. — Like the male, but not So 

 richly coloured, the tint of the under surface being duller chest- 

 nut and not so vinous. Total length, 7 inches ; wing, 4'g. 



Adult in Winter Plumage. — Ashy-brown above, slightly mottled 

 with darker centres to the feathers ; wing-coverts like the back ; 

 quills as in the summer plumage ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 pure white ; tail-feathers ashy-brown, fringed with white, with 

 white shafts, a sub-terminal bar of dusky-blackish, and the 

 inner webs having a good deal of white at the base; lores 

 dusky, with a supra-loral streak of white ; under surface of body 

 pure white, with tiny lines of dusky-brown on the sides of the 

 face, sides of neck, lower throat, and fore-neck. 



Young in First Autumn Plumage. — Similar in general colour to 

 the winter plumage of the adult, but distinguished by the 

 absence of rufous colour on the upper surface. On the under 

 surface the streaks on the fore-neck are almost obsolete, and a 

 fulvescent shade overspreads the fore-neck and chest, in some 

 specimens even extending to the breast itself. On the upper 

 surface it is very similar to the winter plumage of the adult, 

 but has always some distinct pale edgings to the feathers, these 

 being generally fulvescent, while the mantle is decidedly 

 darker, being blackish with pale margins to the feathers. 



Range in Great Britain. — The Curlew-Sandpiper is a spring and 

 autumn visitor to our coasts, being much more plentiful in the 

 latter season than in the former, and frequenting more parti- 

 cularly the east coast, both of Scotland and England. In 

 Ireland, Mr. Howard Saunders states that it has been known 

 to remain in the southern counties until November, or even 

 December. 



Range outside the British Islands. — The present species occurs 

 in winter in the southern parts of the old world, visiting Aus- 

 tralia and Tasmania, the Indian Peninsula, and South Africa. 

 Its nesting habitat, however, is still unknown. It is evident 

 that it does not follow the sunnner course of the Knot in its 

 western range, as it is not known from the Fceroes, Iceland, 

 Greenland, or Spitsbergen. In Scandinavia it is more plentiful 

 in autumn and is rare in spring. Specimens have been observed 

 in June and July at various points of Northern Siberia, and one 

 was obtained by Dr. Mu'-doch at Point Barrow in Alaska, in 



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