324 The Heater-fowl Family 



in front and laterally with the u^jper part of breast, bright rufous, 

 bordered beneath by a band of plumbeous ; throat and under 

 parts, white ; flanks, white, streaked with dusky ; wings, blackish 

 brown, with a white bar ; centre of rump, black ; sides, white ; 

 tail, blackish brown. 



Adult inale in breeding plumage — Similar, but the markings are 

 more dull and indistinct ; the head is sooty, slightly marked 

 with light brown ; the back is more marked with buff; the 

 rufous of neck and breast are less clearly defined ; the bird 

 averages smaller. 



Adjilt male and female in winter plumage — Forehead, superciliary 

 stripe, cheeks, throat, and under parts, white ; a black spot in 

 front of the eye ; top of head, gray, with a grayish stripe under 

 the eye; neck laterally, white, tinged with buflf; back and wings, 

 slate, edged with white ; rump and tail, dark brown, the central 

 feathers bordered with light gray. 



Young — Top of head, dusky ; back and scapulars, blackish, tinged 

 with buff; upper tail-coverts and tail, dark brown, edged with 

 chestnut ; forehead, front of the eye, line above the eye, and 

 under parts, white ; sides of breast, shaded with brown ; iris, 

 brown ; bill, black ; legs and feet, plumbeous. 



Downy young — Above, bright tawny, marked on crown, auriculars, 

 and rump with black ; spot of brown on crown ; throat and 

 sides of head, pale tawny ; lower parts, white. 



Measurements — Length, 7 inches ; wing, 4 inches; tail, 2 inches; 

 tarsus, .75 inch. 



Eggs — Four in number; ground color, greenish drab marked with 

 fine, numerous spots of sepia-brown, measure i.io by .80 inches. 



Habitat — Arctic regions of both hemispheres. In North America 

 it breeds in southern Greenland and in Cumberland up to 73° 

 north latitude, Labrador, the Barren Grounds, Hudson Bay, 

 Alaska, the Aleutians, and the islands in Bering Sea. In winter 

 keeps away from the shore on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 

 and has been taken as far south as Nicaragua and Peru, and in 

 Bermuda and Hawaii ; but in the United States, excepting 

 southern California, few if any occur from November i to April 

 30. Occurs throughout the United States in migration, except 

 possibly Georgia and the states bordering on the Gulf of 

 Mexico. In the Old World breeds in Iceland, the islands 



