
(177°) 
MOULTS AND SEQUENCE OF PLUMAGES 
OF THE BRITISH WADERS. 
BY 
ANNIE C. JACKSON, Hon. Mem, B.o.t. 
Part LV. 
GENus Vanellus, 
LAPwine (Vanellus vanellus). 
Apuuts. — Complete moult from August to December. From 
_ February to May there is a very partial moult involving the feathers 
of the head, some feathers of the nape, throat and breast, apparently 
some scapulars and innermost secondaries and some median and lesser 
coverts, but not the rest of the body-feathers, not the tail and not the 
rest of the wings. The summer plumage differs slightly from the 
winter plumage. The chief differences in the male are that in summer 
_. the feathers of the upper-parts are without buff edges; the crown is 
deep black, glossed green, not tinged brown as in winter, while the lores, 
the patch in front of, and below the eye, the band across the ear-coverts 
and chin and throat are deep black, in some intermixed with one or 
two worn white winter feathers: in winter the chin and throat are 
_ white (some feathers spotted dusky-black in some). 
The female in summer has the crown intermixed with new black 
feathers, glossed green; eye-stripe white or light buff streaked black- 
brown and dusky; lores, patch in front of, and below, the eye and 
the ear-coverts blackish-brown, some of the feathers with white bases 
and more or less intermixed with white feathers; chin and throat 
intermixed with new black feathers. N.B.—In the female the moult 
of the feathers of the head, throat and neck is apparently not so 
complete as in the male, many of the winter feathers being retained ; 
in many examples the white feathers of the sides of the neck do not 
appear to be renewed. One female, Tring, Herts, April 20th, had 
almost completely moulted the feathers of the crown, which resembled 
that of the male, while the feathers of the chin and throat, except for 
one or two worn white winter ones, had been completely renewed and 
the chin and throat were as black as in the male. 
In winter plumage, the female differs from the male in having the 
_ forehead and crown browner with less gloss, the crest shorter, the 
upper-parts more olive-green, not so metallic green, the patch in front 
of, and below the eye browner-black and not so extensive, many of 
the feathers with buff bases, while the median and lesser wing-coverts 
have less violet-purple gloss. 
Adult males may be distinguished from adult and young females 
by the shape of the wings. In adult males the 5th primary (the bastard- 
primary being counted as the Ist) is longer than, or equals, the 4th, 
while the succeeding primaries decrease gradually in length, making 
the tip of the wing rather rounded in shape. In adult and young 
females as well as young males the 5th primary is shorter than the 
4th and the succeeding primaries decrease in length more sharply 
and thus give the tip of the wing a more pointed appearance. Young 
females may be distinguished from young males and adult females 
by having the 2nd primary longer than the 5th instead of below the 
5th as in young males and adult females. There is considerable 
individual variation in the wing formula of each sex, but the following 
abbreviated formule appear to be constant. | 
