BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER. 367 



slightly varied with greyish-white, and tinged with ferru- 

 ginous ; interscapulars nearly black with rufous edges ; 

 scapulars, wing-coverts, lower part of the back, and the 

 tertials, black, the feathers having broad margins of buffy- 

 white or rufous; the primary and secondary quill-feathers 

 blackish ; the shafts white ; upper tail-coverts black with 

 rufous edges ; the two middle tail-feathers nearly black, 

 longer than the others, pointed and margined with rufous : 

 the others ash-grey, margined with buff- colour ; chin nearly 

 white, with minute dark specks ; sides and front of the 

 neck and the upper part of the breast greyish-white, varied 

 with black spots and tinged with buffy-red ; belly, vent, and 

 under tail-coverts, white ; legs, toes, and claws, greenish- 

 black. 



The whole length of the adult birds is six and a half 

 inches ; wing, from the carpal joint to the end of the first, 

 which is the longest feather, four and a quarter inches ; 

 length of the tarsus three-quarters of an inch. The female 

 appears to exceed the male in size, but the difference is very 

 slight. 



The young bird resembles the parent in its plumage at 

 this season, but the feathers of the upper parts are somewhat 

 more broadly margined with greyish-white. 



Its winter plumage closely resembles that of our Dunlin 

 at the same season. The beak is dark brown, almost black ; 

 from the base of the beak to the eye a brown streak, over 

 that a broad one of white ; top of the head, nape, back, all 

 the wing-coverts and tertials ash-grey, the centre of each 

 feather darker and the margin lighter; primaries black; 

 chin, neck in front, and all the under surface, pure white ; 

 legs blackish-brown. 



In the downy nestling the under parts, forehead and cheeks 

 are greyish- white, with a tinge of buff on the throat ; a dark 

 central streak from the base of the bill to the crown, another 

 from the base of the upper mandible to the eye on each side, 

 and a similar but narrower streak from the lower mandible 

 backwards ; crown and upper parts nearly black, tinged with 

 rufous and spotted with white. 



