PEEWIT. 421 



eye; back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and tertials, green, glossed 

 with purple and copper-colour ; the primaries black, the first 

 three or four in each wing greyish white at the end ; upper 

 tail-coverts reddish chestnut ; 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 ; leffs and toes dull 

 orange brown ; claws black. 



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

 the black of the breeding-season is obtained in April. The 

 sexes in plumage resemble each other, but the female has the 

 shorter occipital plume. 



The whole length a little more than twelve inches. From 

 the carpal joint to the end of the wing nine inches : the first 

 quill-feather shorter than the fourth, but a little longer than 

 the fifth ; the second and third feathers equal in length, and 

 the longest in the wing. 



In young birds of the year, the plumage of the body above 

 is edged with buff. 



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

 the Peewit have occasionally been obtained. 



