GALLINAGO MEDIA 81 



with black ; the under tail-coverts sandy buff, tinged with rufous, 

 and having more or less complete bars of black ; under wing-coverts 

 and axiliaries, white, barred with black, the latter very distinctly 

 banded ; lower primary coverts and quills below, uniform ashy 

 brown." {Sharpe). 



Colours of Soft Parts. — "Bill brown; feet light slate colour; iris 

 very dark." (Aijn's.) 



" Bill dull flesh coloured at the base, darkening to black at the 

 end; legs dull flesh colour, the joints plumbeous, iris dark brown. 



Measurements. — Culmen 24 inches, wing .5'5, tail 25, tarsus I'i." 

 (Dresser.) 



" Culmen 245 inches, wings 5'55, tail 2, tarsus 1'35.'" {Sharpe.) 



Adult Female. — Similar to the male. 



Measurements. — "Culmen 25 inches, wing 5'35, tail 2, tarsus 1'5." 

 {Sh((7pe.) 



From the above it will be seen that the female, as far as is shown 

 by the few sexed females in the British Museum Collection, is a 

 somewhat smaller bird with longer bill and legs. The wings in a 

 few females sent to me for examination have averaged 5'50 inches. 



Winter Plumage. — " More sandy buff than in summer, the buff 

 edges to the feathers of the upper surface broader and more con- 

 spicuous, the blackish markings on the foreneck larger and coarser, 

 and either circular or horse-shoe-shaped." (Sharpe.) 



Young. — The young have less white about them than the adult, 

 the white outer tail feathers being a good deal barred ; in addition 

 to this the general tone is much more rufescent and the lower 

 surface darker. 



Nestling. — Ashy-fulvous, the crown and centre of the back more 

 rufous ; sides of the face and a broad supercilium white ; coronal 

 and orbital lines black, and other lines of black about the face ; 

 wings rufescent fulvous, sides of back and a patch on each flank 

 black. Under surface bright fulvescent, a dark patch on the lower 

 throat, and the centre of the abdomen nearly white. 



Distribution. — Breeds in Northern Europe and in Western Siberia, 

 as far north as 69° N. Lat., as far east as the Valley of the 

 Yenesei, and winters in Southern Europe and Northern Africa ; also 

 extending throughout Western Asia, through Asia Minor to Persia. 



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