

SANDERLING. 495 



wing and the primary quill-feathers almost black ; tail- 

 feathers ash colour, edged with white ; chin, throat, and all 

 the under surface of the body, white ; beak, legs, toes, and 

 claws, black. 



There is little or no difference in the plumage of the 

 sexes at this season that I am aware of. 



The appearance of the Sanderling in spring when in 

 change to the plumage of summer, is prettier than at any 

 other season ; each feather on the upper surface of the 

 body exhibits a portion of black in the centre, edged partly 

 with rufous and partly with the remains of the white pe- 

 culiar to winter ; by degrees the white edging gives place 

 to the red ; the neck in front becomes speckled, but the 

 under surface of the body remains white all the year. 



A female killed at the end of August has the upper 

 surface of the body darker than in the spring, but mixed 

 with dull black, some red, and greyish white ; almost all 

 the red colour of the breeding-season has disappeared, but 

 the autumn moult having commenced, a few of the greyish 

 white feathers of the winter plumage appear intermixed 

 with the faded remains of the tints of summer. A bird 

 killed on the 25th of October had completed its winter 

 dress. 



Not possessing a young bird of the year in the plumage 

 previous to its first autumn moult, I copy the following de- 

 scription from the Manual of the Rev. L. Jenyns : " Fea- 

 thers on the crown of the head, back, scapulars, and wing- 

 coverts, black, edged and spotted with yellowish ; between 

 the bill and the eye a cinereous brown streak ; nape, sides 

 of the neck, and sides of the breast, pale grey, with fine 

 undulating streaks ; forehead, throat, fore part of the neck, 

 and all the under parts, pure white : wings and tail as in 

 the adult." 



