175 



bill blackish; feet olive-green ; iris brown. Total length 14 - 5 inches, cnlmen 2'3, wing 7'7, tail 3-8, 

 tarsus 2 - 3. 



Adult in summer plumage. The black markings which are seen here and there on the upper surface of the 

 spring plumage have now extended over the entire feather, while the white margins to the plumes have 

 disappeared, so that the head and back look much darker ; by the same process, also, the wing-coverts 

 are much darker, being now blackish brown ; the two centre tail-feathers are also ashy grey, with cross- 

 barrings extending nearly all over the feather ; the throat is dotted with little black specks, and the 

 breast is thickly covered with oval black spots ; the flanks are more plainly marked with zigzag bars, 

 and the under tail-coverts are streaked down the centre with blackish shaft-stripes ; axillary plumes 

 crossed with greyish- brown zigzag lines. 



Autumn plumage. Rather blackish on the upper surface, but not so dark as in the summer, as the plumage 

 is now beginning to show the white edgings which mark the advent of the winter dress ; the wing is 

 also more distinctly chequered on the outer magin, and all the edgings to the feathers have a slight tint of 

 buff pervading them ; the tail is very different at this season of the year, the two middle feathers being 

 very distinctly banded with zigzag cross-markings ; the under surface of the body is entirely white, the 

 remains of the summer dress being apparent in a greyish shade which overspreads the upper part of the 

 chest, while on the sides of the latter are a few streaks forming more or less regular lines of black ; 

 axillary plumes quite white. 



Adult male in winter plumage. Above pale ashy grey, with here and there a shade of bluish grey, the latter 

 being more apparent on the innermost (that is to say, the longest) secondaries; all the feathers of the 

 upper surface more or less broadly edged with white, before each of which margins a line of blackish 

 brown is seen; some of the scapulars chequered on the outer web with alternate bars of ashy and 

 brown ; the head whitish, with lines of black on the hinder part of the crown ; the forehead nearly pure 

 white, the lores and a line of feathers down the centre of the forehead dusky black ; the sides of the 

 face whitish, the cheeks nearly pure white ; the tail white, with irregular zigzag markings, the two 

 centre feathers ashy grey with a very strong tinge of bluish grey, white at the tip with indications of a 

 few cross bars near the base of the feather ; the entire under surface of the body pure white, as also the 

 axillary plumes ; under wing-coverts whitish with more or less distinct zigzag cross markings. 



Obs. The changes of plumage in the Greenshank at the four different seasons of the year are well marked. 

 In winter it is pure white underneath, and clear ashy-grey above. In April it begins to show traces of 

 breeding-plumage, the feathers of the back exhibiting signs of approaching black, while the under 

 surface is also spotted here and there with black on the upper part of the breast. By June the bird is 

 in full breeding-dress, very dark on the upper surface, and all the fore part of the throat and breast 

 thickly covered with oval spots, while the flanks and under tail-coverts are also marked with blackish. 

 By the end of July the bird begins to change, and in August rapidly passes into a somewhat lighter 

 dress, assuming buffy-white edgings to the feathers of the upper surface, while the underside of the 

 body is quite white, excepting slight remains of dark markings on the fore part of the breast ; at this 

 season of the year the tail is very different, the centre feathers being distinctly barred, whereas at all 

 other times they are more or less uniform grey with indications of bars only on the basal part of the 

 feathers. 



A young bird in down, from Tornea, Lapland, measured 153 mm. in length, bill 19 mm., tarsus 32 mm., 

 middle toe 32 mm. Upper parts black and grey, with reddish tinge ; forehead, sides of head, and whole 

 underparts white ; a streak through the eye, a fine line along the forehead, a larger spot on the crown, 



2u 



