230 CHARADRITDA 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS.' 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial_—The chief difference in 
the plumage of this and our bird is to be found in the 
axillary feathers. 
In the Lesser Golden Plover these are dark smoke-grey 
shading to smoke-black; in the Golden Plover they are 
white. 
Adult female nuptial.—Similar to the male plumage, 
except that the black is less developed on the breast and 
abdomen, and is broken up into patches. 
Adult winter, male and female.—The margins of the 
feathers of the upper piumage are lighter in the Lesser 
.Golden Plover than in the common species; in fact in 
winter-plumage the bird more closely resembles a Grey 
than a Golden Plover. 
Immature, male and female-—Upper plumage resembles 
that of the adult nuptial, but the tail is plain brown spotted 
with yeliow on the margins (Seebohm). The under plumage 
resembles that of the adult in winter. 
Beak. Dark olive-brown. 
Fret. Leaden-grey. 
IrtEs. Dark brown. 
Kees. Paler in ground-colour than those of the Golden 
or Grey Plover: clutch, four (H. L. Popham). 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOVAL LENGTH, Asiatic race 9 in. 
ee AS American race ER 35 
WING Asiatic race 6Daee 
a i American race : Onde 
BEAK Asiatic race ae Oss. 
American race Leer 
TARSO- METATARSUS, Asiatic race sb ee 
a i American race EG 
Kaa cae e ee te aly eax 1°33 i in. 
' The late Mr. E. Williams draws attention to the much longer 
‘tarsus,’ and broad white band over the eye in the Lesser Golden 
Plover, as compared with the same in the European bird (‘Irish 
Naturalist,’ vol. iii, p. 224). 
