474 HVPERBOREAN PHALAROPE. 
their blackish tips, some of them being also white on their 
inner web, so that the white much predominates: the tertials 
are very long, and wholly blackish. The tail is little more 
than two inches long ; the feathers are blackish grey, edged 
with pale ferruginous at tip. The feet are of a greenish lead ; 
the naked space on the tibia nearly half an inch ; the tarsus 
little more than three-quarters of an inch, and precisely of 
the same length with the middle toe; the hind toe no more 
than three-sixteenths of an inch. 
In old and perfect specimens, especially old females, this sex 
being larger and much handsomer, the back, scapulars, and 
wing-coverts are of a very intense shining black, the anterior 
part of the back and scapulars being skirted with fulvous, and 
the wing-coverts edged near the tip with pure white; the 
side and also the inferior portion of the neck are of a bright 
rufous ; the two middle tail-feathers are of the same deep 
black as the back, and the lateral ashy ones are edged with 
white. It will be remarked that the chief difference between 
the specimen figured and the quite perfect state resides in 
the ferruginous colouring of the sides of the neck, which does 
not meet on the breast, as it does quite broadly in adult 
birds: considerable variation takes place in this respect, 
which is entirely owing to the more or less advanced maturity 
of the birds. 
The young before the summer moult are well distinguished 
by having the forehead, cheeks, throat, sides of the neck, and 
neck beneath pure white, as well as all the under parts, the 
neck and flanks being the only parts tinged with cinereous ; 
a slight yellowish tinge appears on the sides of the neck: the 
top of the head only, a band along the nucha, and a patch 
around the eyes are blackish grey slightly skirted with rufons ; 
the back and scapulars blackish, each feather broadly skirted 
with bright ferruginous ; the wing-coverts blackish, lesser 
margined with white, greater white at the tip; the inner 
part of the tarsus is yellow; the exterior and the toes of a 
yellowish green. 
