Bertram's sandpiper. 445 



black, edged with white ; primaries blackish-brown, the 

 shaft of the outer quill whitish, the inner vane pectinated 

 with white ; secondaries pale brown, spotted on the outer 

 vanes with black and tipped with white ; under surface of 

 wings beautifully streaked and barred with silver-grey and 

 white ; greater coverts dusky, edged with warm buff and 

 spotted with black ; lesser coverts pale brown, each feather 

 broadly edged with white, within which is a concentric semi- 

 circle of black ; rump and tail-coverts deep brownish-black, 

 slightly bordered with white ; tail wedge-shaped when closed, 

 tapering, of a pale brown-orange colour, beautifully spotted 

 with black, the middle feathers centred with dusky ; legs 

 yellow, tinged with green ; under surface of the wings ele- 

 gantly barred with black and white. The figure was taken, 

 by permission, from Gould's 'Birds of Europe.' 



The length is twelve inches. Bill one inch and a half. 

 The wing, from its anterior bend to the end of the longest 

 quill-feather, measures six inches seven lines ; the tarsus 

 two inches ; naked part above one inch ; middle toe one inch. 

 The female is on the average rather larger than the male. 



The adult in winter is rather paler ; and immature birds 

 have the feathers of the back more margined with rufous 

 buff. The young in down are entirely white below, finely 

 mottled with black, white, and rich brown above ; the feet and 

 under mandible light-coloured ; the upper mandible black. 



Mr. Harting, who carefully dissected the Lincolnshire 

 specimen, remarks that the sternum, in point of size, 

 approximates to that of Totaniisfuscus, and has the posterior 

 margin doubly cleft as in that species and its congeners; 

 the apex of the keel is, however, not pointed as in the above, 

 but rounded as in Nnmenhis (Zool. 1880, p. 509). It will 

 be observed that the tail is barred, as in Totanus, and not 

 plain, as in Tringa. 



