104 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



The plumage of the Common Sandpiper is very fine 

 and soft. The bird is rather more than seven inches in 

 length. The top of the head and back of the neck is a 

 greenish-brown, with tints of bluish-grey and dull yellow ; 

 and there is across the centre a stripe of greenish-black. 

 The back is a greenish-brown, and the plumage is beauti- 

 fully marked with thin irregular markings of dark brown ; 

 the chin, throat, and lower part of the belly is white, and 

 the upper part of the breast is marked with blackish 

 streaks. The wings are long, having a stretch o about 

 fourteen inches ; and in summer the feathers of the lesser 

 wing-coverts have a black edging near the tip. The tail 

 is short, and dusky-brown in colour, and is barred with 

 greenish-black ; the toes and legs are pale bluish-green, 

 brown at the joints; claws, a dark brown. 



