540 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
the back is black, regularly spotted with white; the 
scapulars the same, but the spots much larger ; wing- 
coverts the same, but the white spots smaller than 
on the back; rump and tail-coverts black, with very 
small white spots, more on the tail-coverts than on 
the rump; the tail-feathers are very short, black, 
with a few small white spots towards the tip; the 
quills are black; the sides of the breast immediately 
beneath the black part of the neck and towards the 
point of the wing are distinctly streaked with black 
and white, like the patches on the neck; just at the 
point of the wing in the flank the streaks cease and 
the feathers are black, with small white spots; breast 
and all the under parts pure white; back of the 
thighs to the tail-coverts black, with small white 
spots; the legs, toes and webs are very dark, nearly 
black, on the outside. This is the description of the 
bird previously mentioned as having been killed at 
Exmouth on the 30th of May (ante, p. 555), and 
which was sent to me in the flesh and is now in my 
collection: as before stated, I have never seen a bird 
in this plumage in the winter, though I saw and 
chased one in equally good plumage a fortnight 
earlier in the month—on the 14th of May. The bird 
I am now about to describe is one of the nearest 
I have ever seen to full plumage in the winter: it 
was killed at Exmouth on the 9th of December, and 
sent to me in the flesh the next day: it is in a state 
of change, and is either a young bird just assuming 
