146 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Adult male in summer-plumage——Head and hind-neck cinnamon-rufous with 
dark brown shaft-streaks to the feathers ; upper back and scapulars dark with white 
and buff marginal spots to the feathers ; the feathers of the lower back pale brown 
fringed with white—these edgings becoming rufous on the short upper tail-coverts, 
the long ones barred with rufous and brown and tipped with white ; tail pale brown, 
barred and tipped with white ; lesser, median, and greater wing-coverts brown, 
fringed with white; bastard-wing and primary-coverts uniform dark brown ; 
primary-quills also dark brown, paler on the inner webs and mottled with white 
towards the base, the shafts conspicuously white ; the inner primaries and secondaries 
pale brown and edged with white ; tail brown, tipped and barred with white ; 
a short white line immediately below the eye ; eyebrow, throat, breast, abdomen, 
and under tail-coverts cinnamon-rufous, some of the under tail-coverts have dark 
brown bars ; under wing-coverts white with a subterminal brown bar ; axillaries 
white barred with brown ; bill blackish, pale at base of lower mandible ; iris brown ; 
feet blackish. Total length 373 mm. ; culmen 83, wing 224, tail 78, tarsus 51. 
Adult female—Similar to the male but larger. According to Middendorff, 
coloration appreciably different. 
Adult male in winter-~plumage.—Top of head and hind-neck ash-grey with narrow 
pale brown streaks to the feathers becoming darker on the back and scapulars, some 
of the feathers of which are dark brown fringed with white ; upper tail-coverts 
brown barred and fringed with white, the long ones barred with brown and white ; 
tail dark brown mottled with white towards the base, some of the middle feathers 
subterminally barred with white, the shafts of the feathers white at the base and 
brown near the tips; lesser, median, and greater wing-coverts pale brown with 
whitish margins like the secondary-quills ; bastard-wing and primary-coverts 
uniform dark brown ; primary-quills dark brown on the outer webs and at the tips, 
paler brown on the inner webs and mottled with white towards the base, the shafts 
conspicuously white; an ill-defined white eyebrow; sides of face dusky-white 
with minute dark shaft-lines, an indistinct line in front of the eye and the ear-coverts 
a shade darker than the rest of the face; a narrow white line immediately below 
the eye ; throat dull white ; lower throat and breast ash-grey with narrow blackish 
shaft-lines on the lower throat and fore-neck ; the feathers of the breast, sides of 
body, and under tail-coverts more or less barred with pale brown ; abdomen and 
vent whitish ; axillaries brown, barred and margined with white; under wing- 
coverts pale brown barred and margined with white. 
Immature—Top of the head brown with pale tips, the back of the neck greyish- 
brown with paler tips ; the upper back tipped with broader edges, giving a scalloped 
appearance ; the rump and tail barred, the feathers with whitish tips ; the wing- 
coverts with long whitish edges ; there is an ill-defined superciliary line of whitish ; 
throat whitish, the lower throat and chest fawnish-white, abdomen dirty white ; 
indefinite brownish flank stripes ; under wing-coverts brown with white bases and 
broad white edges ; axillaries white barred irregularly with pale brown. 
Nestling in down.—Rutfous-brown above with black blotches, rather irregularly 
placed so that linear arrangement is not easily seen ; a black frontal line spreading 
out into an irregular black blotched cap ; a pronounced white superciliary succeeded 
by a black loral line passing through the eye ; cheeks and all under-surface pale 
bufty-red, the thighs tinged with yellow ; the winglet brown edged with paler buffy 
centre. 
Nest.—A depression in the grass. 
Eggs.—Clutch, four; ground-colour deep greenish-drab to pale drab; the 
markings are scattered in the form of irregular blotches of a dilute umber. In some 
the markings are more pronounced and more aggregated towards the larger end 
and of a much deeper shade of umber; axis 57 mm., diameter 36-37. 
Breeding-season—In Siberia, June and July. 
