SANDERLING. 167 



of former times have been led into the error of calling the 

 same species by different names, through the changes that 

 many birds undergo during their maturing moults. 



The length of this bird is about eight inches, its wing 

 nearly five inches ; the beak eleven lines ; the tarsus eleven 

 lines ; the middle toe not quite nine lines. 



The plumage of the adult male in summer is the follow- 

 ing ; a space between the eye and beak dusky, above which 

 extends a buff-coloured streak, passing over the eye. The 

 top of the head is rust coloured, with a black spot to 

 each feather, some having white tips ; the cheeks are white 

 in front, spotted with dusky, their hinder edge tinged with 

 rufous ; the nape, hinder part of the neck, sides of the 

 neck, back and scapulars, are rufous, the feathers being 

 all marked with black, and some few tipped with white ; 

 the tertials are black, and have rust-yellow edges ; the 

 quills and two middle tail-feathers are dusky ; the greater 

 and lesser wing-coverts are dusky, with the centres of the 

 feathers darkest, the lower part of the back and rump 

 dusky, barred with cinereous, and reddish edges to the 

 feathers ; the chin, throat, sides and front of the neck, and 

 upper part of the breast are more or less marked with black 

 and rufous, as represented in our plate. The beak, legs, 

 and feet are bluish-black, the eyes brown. All the under 

 parts are pure white. 



In the winter plumage the upper parts of the bird are 

 pearl-grey with dusky shafts to the feathers ; in place of 

 the dusky space between the beak and eye, it has only 

 a small black spot just before it ; the last quill-feather in 

 the wing and the two middle tail-feathers are dark ash- 

 coloured. The wing-coverts are all dusky with pale edges 

 to each feather, the larger wing-coverts are broadly tipped 

 with white, forming a bar across the wing ; the lower part 



