SANDERLING. 431 



In winter the plumage on the upper surface of the body is 

 of a very light ash grey, almost white, the shaft of each 

 feather forming a darker streak ; carpal portion of the wing and 

 the primary quill-feathers almost black ; tail-feathers ash co- 

 lour, edged with white ; chin, throat, and all the under sur- 

 face of the body, white ; beak, legs, toes, and claws, black. 



There is little or no difference in the plumage of the sexes 

 at this season that I am aware of. 



The appearance of the Sanderling in spring when in change 

 to the plumage of summer, is prettier than at any other 

 season ; each feather on the upper surface of the body exhi- 

 bits a portion of black in the centre, edged partly with rufous 

 and partly with the remains of the white peculiar to winter ; 

 by degrees the white edging gives place to the red ; the neck 

 in front becomes speckled, but the under surface of the body 

 remains white all the year. 



A female killed at the end of August has the upper surface 

 of the body darker than in the spring, but mixed with dull 

 black, some red, and greyish white ; almost all the red colour 

 of the breeding season has disappeared, but the autumn moult 

 having commenced, a few of the greyish white feathers of the 

 winter plumage appear intermixed with the faded remains of 

 the tints of summer. A bird killed on the 25 th of October 

 had completed its winter dress. 



Not possessing a young bird of the year in the plumage 

 previous to its first autumn moult, I copy the following de- 

 scription from the Manual of the Rev. L. Jenyns : — " Fea- 

 thers on the crown of the head, back, scapulars, and wing- 

 coverts, black, edged and spotted with yellowish ; between 

 the bill and the eye a cinereous brown streak ; nape, sides of 

 the neck, and sides of the breast, pale grey, with fine undu- 

 lating streaks ; forehead, throat, fore part of the neck, and all 

 the under parts, pure white : wings and tail as in the adult." 



