CURLEW SANDPIPER. 407 



and tertials, reddish-chestnut barred with black ; the greater 

 wing- coverts ash-brown, edged with greyish- white ; primary 

 and secondary quill-feathers blackish, with white shafts ; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts white, with a few dark spots ; 

 tail-feathers ash-colour, with white shafts ; breast and belly 

 reddish-chestnut, indistinctly barred with black ; axillary 

 plume white ; vent, flanks, and under tail-coverts, reddish- 

 white, barred and spotted with black ; under surface of tail- 

 feathers greyish- white ; legs and toes greenish- black. The 

 whole length is about eight inches and a quarter ; the wing 

 from the carpal joint to the end of the first feather, which is 

 the longest, five inches. The females are rather larger than 

 the males, but the colours are less brilliant. 



In autumn the under surface of the body of an adult bird 

 is a mixture of white and pale red in patches, and the dark 

 feathers on the back and wing-coverts are mixed with some 

 new feathers which are ash-grey; the quill-feathers dusky. 



Young birds of the year in their first autumn have the 

 neck ash-grey; the feathers of the back, scapulars, wing- 

 coverts, and tertials, dark brown, margined with reddish-buff 

 colour, which, later in the season, as winter approaches, 

 change slowly to ash-colour, with huffy-white, and ultimately 

 with pure white edges; under surface of the body white, tinged 

 with buff, becoming afterwards pure white. 



Adult birds in winter plumage have the lores and ear- 

 coverts ash-brown, bounded above with a streak of white ; the 

 cheeks white ; top of the head and back of the neck ash- 

 brown, streaked and spotted with darker brown; back, scapu- 

 lars, wing-coverts, and tertials, ash-brown, margined with 

 white; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; tail-feathers ash- 

 grey, edged with white; chin, breast, and all the under 

 surface of the body, pure white; legs and toes greenish- 

 brown. 



