THE PURRE, OR DUNLIN. 191 



name of varialilis, or ' changing/ is such that it has often 

 been described as two distinct species. 



In the winter dress, or that in which it is found on our 

 southern coast nearly all the year round, the plumage is much 

 paler in the colours than in the summer or breeding season. 

 The top of the head, back of the neck, scapulars, and back, 

 are ash grey, tinged with brown, and the shafts of the feathers 

 dusky, inclining to black. The coverts dull blackish brown, 

 with greyish margins, and the tips of the greater ones white. 

 The rump and upper tail-coverts dusky brown, with the 

 margins paler brown. The middle tail feathers, which are 

 the longest, brown ; the others grey with whitish shafts, and 

 the lateral ones larger than the others. A brownish line 

 extends from the gape to the eye, and thence across the eye 

 backward there is a streak of white, and the rest of the 

 cheeks is white streaked with brown. The chin and throat 

 are white ; the front of the neck and upper part of the 

 breast grey, with brown shafts to the feathers, and all the 

 rest of the under part pure white. It is in that plumage 

 (but the tints vary a little with the time of the winter) that 

 the bird is the purre of authors. 



In summer, the crown of the head, back of the neck, 

 scapulars, and upper part of the back, become black, with 

 reddish brown margins to the feathers ; and the lower part 

 of the back, the rump, and tail-coverts, become brownish 

 black. The chin remains white, and so do the flanks and 

 under coverts of the tail towards the sides, but with black 

 streaks. The cheeks, fore part of the neck and breast, 

 become black, with well-defined white margins to the 

 feathers, and the rest of the under part becomes almost 

 entirely black. The wing-coverts remain nearly the same 

 as in the winter, and so do the quills, which are of a dusky 

 brown colour. In this plumage the bird is the dunlin of 

 authors. 



