282 CHAEADRIID^ 



amount of purple- green gloss in the feathers ; the greater 

 wing-coverts and long inner secondaries are handsomely 

 variegated with rich chestnut-brown, black, and buff ; the 

 warm buff stripes of the scapulars and inner secondaries 

 are even more noticeable than those of the Common Snipe ; 

 primaries, greyish-brown; tail-feathers (twelve in number), 

 chiefly brownish, with lighter margins ; upper tail-coverts, 

 blackish-brown with buff edgings. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar to the male plumage, 

 but duller in colour. 



Adult winter, male and female. The chestnut-brown of 

 the back and wings is replaced to a large extent by dark 

 ash-grey, and the blackish markings on the hind-neck are 

 more distinct than in the nuptial plumage. 



Immature, male and female. Resembles the adult 

 plumage, but the metallic gloss on the back and wings is 

 not so well marked. 



BEAK. Brownish ; darker towards the tip ; shorter in 

 proportion than that of the Common Snipe. 



FEET. Yellowish-brown. 



IRIDES. Blackish-brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH 7'5 in. 



WING >. ... ... 4-25 ,, 



BEAK 1-5 



TARSO-METATARSUS ... ... O8 ,, 



EGG 1*5 x 1 in. 



BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER. Limicola platyrhyncha 

 (Temminck). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. iv, pi. 

 75; Dresser, Birds of Europe,' vol. viii, pi. 545; Lilford, 

 1 Coloured Figures,' vol. v, pi. 30. 



This species is a very rare British visitor, its migration- 

 route being eastward of our Isles. The earliest specimen 

 recorded was taken on Breydon Broad, Norfolk, on May 

 25th, 1836. Other examples have subsequently come from 



