204: REDSHANK. 



pure white, the pale space longer in extent towards 

 the last quill, and here barred and freckled with 

 greyish-brown ; secondary quills pure white, with 

 distant indistinct bars of white towards the ends ; 

 the markings towards the base darker, irregular, 

 and more crowded ; the upper tail-coverts white, 

 barred with black ; the tail white, approaching to 

 grey or hair-brown at the tip, barred with black, 

 and tinted with rufous. Before appearing in the 

 livery of winter, the flocks present many modifi- 

 cations of plumage. Out of a large flock, on the 

 Solway Frith, in the end of August, we were once 

 so fortunate as to procure thirteen specimens at 

 one shot ; among these, the upper part had, in the 

 greater part, assumed the uniform hair-brown of 

 winter, but many of the darkly marked and barred 

 feathers were still interspersed ; on the lower parts 

 the white was more pure, but there still more or 

 less dotted and barred with blackish-brown ; on 

 both, however, and indeed on the whole, all tinge 

 of rufous had disappeared. In the perfect win- 

 ter dress, the upper parts are of uniform greyish 

 hair-brown ; the lower parts pure white, dashed 

 with narrow longitudinal streaks of grey on the 

 throat, neck, and sides of the breast; on the 

 flanks, the markings assume the form of irregular 

 bars ; and the centre of the breast and belly, with 

 the vent, are unspotted ; in both these states the 

 base of the bill is rich tile-red ; the legs and feet 

 bright orange. In the young birds the upper 

 parts are wood -brown, each feather edged on 



