288 CHARADRIID^E. 



elongated, slender feathers, slightly curved upwards, which 

 the hird can elevate or depress at pleasure ; behind the eye, 

 on the cheeks and sides of the neck, and reaching to the 

 nape beneath the plume, white, speckled with black ; an 

 oblique streak of black below the eye ; back, scapulars, wing- 

 coverts, and tertials green, glossed with purple and copper- 

 colour ; the primaries black, the first three in each wing 

 greyish- white at the end; upper tail-coverts reddish-chest- 

 nut ; the basal half of the tail-feathers white, the rest black, 

 the proportion of white greater in the two or three outer 

 feathers, the extreme outside feather almost entirely white ; 

 chin, throat, and upper part of the breast shining black; 

 lower part of the breast, belly, and vent, white ; under tail- 

 coverts fawn-colour ; legs and toes dull flesh-colour ; claws 

 black. 



In winter the chin and throat are white, the change to 

 the black of the breeding- season occurring ia April. The 

 sexes in plumage resemble each other, but the female has 

 the shorter occipital plume. The whole length is a little 

 more than twelve inches. From the carpal joint to the end 

 of the wing nine inches. 



In young birds of the year the dorsal feathers are edged 

 with buff. 



White, cream-coloured, and mouse-coloured varieties of 

 the Peewit have occasionally been obtained. 



