GREENSHANK 351 
in the Shetlands or Orkneys (Buckley and Harvie-Brown, 
‘Vertebrate Fauna of Sutherland and Caithness ’). 
Geographical distribution.— Abroad, it breeds over a vast 
area of Northern Europe and Asia, migrating in winter 
over these Continents, and reaching as far as Australia. 
According to Mr. Saunders, considerable numbers do not 
travel further in winter than the Mediterranean basin and 
the Canaries. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Top of head and hind- 
neck, greyish-white streaked with dark brown; back, 
scapulars, wing-coverts, and secondaries, blackish, edged 
with grey; primaries, blackisb-brown; lower back and 
upper tail-coverts, white ; tail, white, splashed and barred 
with brown; throat, front and sides of neck, cheeks, breast, 
and flanks, streaked and spotted with pale brown on a white 
ground ; abdomen and under tail-coverts, white. 
Adult female nuptial.—sSimilar to the male plumage. 
Adult winter, male and female.—The top of the head, 
back, and sides of the neck have lghter streaks, and the 
variegated markings on the back, scapulars, and wings, also 
exhibit lighter shades of orey than in the nuptial plumage ; 
in fact the upper plumage of the Greenshank in winter 
may be shortly described as a ‘chequered tweed-grey’ 
chin, throat, front of neck, breast, (save a small portion 
of the sides), abdomen, under tail-coverts, and flanks, pure 
white; a white stripe extends from the base of the beak 
to the front of the eye; central tail-feathers, greyish-white, 
barred with light brown; lateral tail-feathers, chiefly white, 
spotted on their outer webs with greyish-brown. 
Immature, male and female——Somewhat resembles the 
adult winter-plumage, but the feathers of the back, scapulars, 
and wings, are edged with dark buff, and the neck, breast, 
and memes, are finely streaked with dark greyish-brown. 
Brak. Blackish; very slightly recurved. 
FrEer. Dull greenish; long and slender. 
Irwes. Blackish-brown. 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH Aan ey | 
2 Sein 
WING Dae 
BEAK DOH 33 
TARSO- METATARSUS id 5 a 
Hee ... Ge sesame 
