LITTLE STINT. 73 



The whole length is six inches ; the beak three-quarters 

 of an inch ; from the carpal joint of the wing to the end 

 of the first quill-feather, which is the longest, three inches 

 and three-quarters ; the length of the tarsus ten lines ancif 

 a half. 



An adult bird in its autumn plumage, killed in Sep- 

 tember, has the beak black ; irides dark brown ; from the 

 base of the beak to the eye, and on the ear-coverts, a brown 

 streak ; above and below the eye greyish white ; sides and 

 back of the neck ash grey, streaked with darker grey ; 

 feathers of the back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and tertials, 

 nearly black, with broad margins of reddish brown and 

 buffy white ; quill-feathers dusky, with white shafts ; se- 

 condaries edged and tipped with white ; rump and upper 

 tail-coverts dark brown, edged with dull reddish brown ; 

 tail-feathers ash grey, margined with buffy white ; chin, 

 breast, and all the under surface, pure white, with the 

 exception of a dusky band across the bottom of the neck 

 in front ; axillary plume white at all seasons ; legs, toes, 

 and claws, nearly black. 



Young birds of the year, in their first autumn, have the 

 feathers of the upper surface of the body ash brown rather 

 than black, in the middle, with broad margins of buffy 

 white, which soon become almost pure white. 



The adult bird in winter plumage has the head and neck 

 ash grey, the central line of each feather being a little 

 darker than the margin ; back, wing-coverts, rump and 

 upper tail-coverts, ash colour, the shaft of each feather 

 forming a decided dark line ; primary and secondary quill- 

 feathers as in autumn; tertials ash brown, with lighter- 

 coloured margins ; tail feathers ash grey with narrow white 

 edges ; all the under surface of the body as in autumn ; 

 beak, irides, legs, toes, and claws, also as in the autumn. 



