THE LITTLE STINT. 87 



changes in the course of the year, similar to those observed 

 in the Dunlin and one or two other birds of the same class. 

 In the summer the beak is black ; the irides, dark brown ; 

 the top of the head and the neck, ferruginous, with specks 

 of black ; the feathers of the back, scapulars, wing-coverts, 

 tertials, and upper tail-coverts, black in the centre, with 

 broad ferruginous margins ; the point of the wing, nearly 

 black ; the primaries, black, with white shafts ; the second- 

 aries, nearly black, tipped with white. The tail, when 

 perfect, is doubly forked, and ash-brown in colour. The 

 sides of the neck, down to the front of the wing, and a 

 band round the front of the neck, ferruginous, speckled 

 with black ; axillary plume, pure white ; legs, toes, and 

 claws, dull black. In winter, the adult bird has the head 

 and neck ash-grey, with dark centres to the feathers ; back, 

 wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts, ash colour, the 

 feather shafts being much darker ; tail feathers, ash-grey, 

 with white edges. The under surface of the body is pure 

 white. 



The autumn plumage differs in many respects from that 

 of the above-mentioned seasons. There is a brown streak 

 on the ear-coverts, which also extends from the eye to the 

 base of the beak ; above and below the eye there is a mark 

 of greyish- white, and the sides and back of the neck are 

 ash-grey, with streaks of a darker shade ; the feathers of 

 the back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and tertials are nearly 

 black, with broad edges of reddish-brown and buffy- white ; 

 quill feathers, dusky, with white shafts ; secondaries, 

 edged and tipped with white ; rump and upper tail-coverts, 

 darkish-brown, lighter at the edges ; tail feathers, ash- 

 grey, with edges of buffy-white. Across the bottom of the 

 neck in front there is a dusky band ; the rest of the under 



