COMMON REDSHANK. 631 



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 transversely 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 shafts of 

 the feathers ; legs and toes red ; the claws black. 



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

 presented, when assuming by degrees the darker markings 

 peculiar to the breeding-season, the greater coverts and 

 tertials 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 brownish 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. 



