AVES CHARADRIID^E. 263 



of the chest backward pure white. A malar line, the sides of the neck, 

 and breast black. The white of the neck defining this area as a crescent 

 above, and the white of the center of the chest giving the black region a 

 crescentic outline below. Under wing coverts and axillaries pure white. 

 The quills have an ashy white aspect from below. 



Bill, black. 



Tarsi reddish orange. 



Feet and toes reddish orange. 



Iris deep hazel brown. 



Adult Female. (Breeding plumage, P. U. O. C. 5604, Cobbs Island, 

 Virginia, 24 May, 1881. W. E. D. S.) 



Similar to the male, but with all the colors duller. The white of the 

 crown much obscured with dusky and rufous, as is the hind neck. The 

 chestnut of the mantle and wings duller. The black areas of the sides of 

 the head, breast and chest not so well defined or intense. 



Adults in Winter. In winter the adult birds are dusky brown, showing 

 little or no trace of the bright chestnut of the nuptial dress. The edges 

 of the feathers are ashy brown on the back and wings. The head is col- 

 ored like the back, and the upper surface, neck and sides are ashy brown 

 with dusky centers to the feathers. The sides of the face are brown, 

 shaded with a varying degree of white on the ear coverts. The black 

 areas are defined on the cheeks and throat and breast, but are somewhat 

 obsolete. The white crescentic bands on the neck are replaced by 

 patches of ashy brown. (P. U. O. C. 3907, <$ ad., Gulf Coast Florida, 

 26 December, 1879. W. E. D. S.) (Fall and early winter.) 



Young of the year. Similar to adults in winter, but with all the feathers 

 of the back and wings edged with sandy rufous and those of the head 

 streaked with sandy buff. The tail feathers are white with a broad sub- 

 terminal area of black on each feather, decreasing in extent toward the 

 outermost rectrices, and all the feathers of the tail tipped with sandy buff. 

 The black markings of the sides of the head, neck and breast are clearly 

 indicated in pattern by mottled, dusky feathers, with ashy tips. The cres- 

 centic band on the neck, white in the adult breeding birds, is replaced by 

 a band of similar shape but dull sandy buff in color. (P. U. O. C. 3903 

 cT, coast of Maine, August, 1876. N. C. Brown.) 



The difference in appearance of adults in winter and young birds in the 

 first full plumage " consists in the sandy-buff margins to the feathers of 



