COMMON REDSHANK. 527 



In winter the beak is black at the point, dark red at the 

 base ; the irides brown ; from the angle of the mouth to the 

 eye a dusky streak, over that and the eye a white streak ; the 

 top of the head, the back of the neck, the whole of the back 

 and wing coverts, ash brown ; the wing primaries almost 

 black ; the rump white ; the tail feathers white, barred trans- 

 versely with dusky grey ; the chin, the neck in front, breast, 

 belly, and under tail coverts white, with a few slight dusky 

 streaks in the line of the shaft of the feathers ; legs and toes 

 red ; the claws black. 



In its spring plumage, the state in which it is here repre- 

 sented, when assuming by degrees the darker markings pecu- 

 liar to the breeding season, the greater coverts and tcrtials are 

 varied with spots, brownish black on the edges, and the white 

 parts of the front of the neck, and all the under surface of the 

 body, sides and flanks are spotted and streaked with brown- 

 ish black. 



By the first week in June, the lighter ash-coloured edges 

 of the wing-coverts and tertials are more strongly marked 

 with brownish black ; a few dark coloured feathers appear on 

 the back ; the general plumage of the back is tinged with 

 brown, and the black streaks and spots on the white surface 

 of the neck and breast are more conspicuous. 



With the moult which succeeds the breeding season, these 

 birds assume again the plumage of winter. 



Males and females resemble each other in their colours, 

 but the females are larger than the males. 



The whole length of an adult female is about eleven inches. 

 From the carpal joint to the end of the wing six inches and 

 three quarters ; the first quill feather the longest in the wing. 



