BRITISH BIRDS. 5 



forming, when the wing is closed, a sharp wedge- 

 shaped spot; inner webs, brownish ash; secondary 

 quills, brown, tipped with white; the rump and tail 

 coverts also brown, edged with dirty white; tail 

 feathers, brownish ash, edged with a lighter shade, 

 the two middle ones much darker than the rest; 

 throat, fore part of the neck, breast, belly, thighs, 

 and vent, white; the toes and legs, black, and bare 

 a little above the knees. This bird is of a slender 

 form, and its plumage has a hoary appearance 

 among the Stints, with which it associates on the 

 sea-shore, in various parts of (Treat Britain. It 

 wants the hinder toe, and has in other respects, the 

 look of the Plover and Dotterel. 



Latham says, this bird, like the Purre, and some 

 others, varies considerably, either from age or the 

 season; for those he received in August, had the 

 upper parts dark ash-coloured, and the feathers 

 deeply edged with a ferruginous colour; but others, 

 sent him in January, were of a plain dove-coloured 

 grey; they differed also in some other trifling par- 

 ticulars. 



