CURLEW SANDPIPER. 183 



bably not breeding, I was eagerly searching I'or the breeding-grounds of 

 the Little Stint^ and was wandering amongst sand-hills sprinkled over with 

 esparto grass^ and ground covered with thick short grass, studded with 

 little pools. The little flock of Sandpipers were feeding on the edge of a 

 small island in the lagoon, and I shot one of them, which turned out to be 

 a veritable Curlew Sandpiper. Middendorff must by the merest of chances 

 have missed obtaining the eggs of this interesting bird, for he shot a female 

 with an almost fully developed egg in the ovary. Like the eggs of the 

 Knot, those of the Curlew Sandpiper are still a prize which some adven- 

 turous ornithologist has yet to secure. 



The Curlew Sandpiper is a miniature Knot with a long decurved bill. 

 The adult in breeding-plumage only differs from that of the Knot in 

 having the chestnut of both the upper and under parts darker and richer, 

 and in having the axillaries pure Avhite. Bill, legs, feet, and claws black ; 

 irides hazel. After the autumn moult the plumage differs in no appreciable 

 degree from that of the Knot at that season, except that the bars disappear 

 from the upper tail-coverts, the axillaries remain white, and the marks on 

 the underparts are confined to a few striations on the sides of the neck and 

 the breast. Young in first plumage have the ground-colour of the upper 

 parts much darker than in the Knot, causing the sub-marginal dark bands 

 on the feathers to be much less distinct; and, as in winter plumage, the 

 pure white axillaries and upper tail-coverts distinguish the Curlew Sand- 

 piper. Birds of the year differ from adults in winter plumage in having 

 the pale margins of the wing-coverts, scapulars, and innermost secondaries 

 more distinct. After the first spring moult the Curlew Sandpiper differs 

 from the similar plumage of the Knot in having the dark bars on the 

 underparts more developed, nearly every feather having a white margin, 

 emphasized by a narrow dark brown sub-marginal band. The chestnut 

 on the upper parts is much more brilliant than in the similar stage of 

 plumage of the Knot. Birds in this plumage do not breed, as they may be 

 found on our coasts throughout the summer, generally in small flocks. I 

 have three examples in my collection, shot on the Sussex coast on the 19th 

 of July. Young in down are absolutely unknown. 



In winter plumage the Curlew Sandpiper bears a superficial resemblance 

 to the Sanderling and the Dunlin, but may at a glance be distinguished 

 from either of these species by its white upper tail-coverts. 



ii^X/^"^ 





