THE GREY PLOVER. 541 



brown, some with faint terminal dusky-brown tips ; flanks white 

 with dusky-brown shafts and tips and sometimes marked and 

 shaded same ; under tail-coverts white, some with brown borders ; 

 rest of under-parts as adult ; tail-feathers washed golden and barred 

 white and sepia, bars decreasing towards outer feathers which are 

 more or less white ; wing as adult but innermost secondaries and 

 coverts as mantle ; greater coverts more narrowly edged white 

 than in adult, white edge incomplete in centre of tip of feather and 

 notches larger and more pronounced than in adult ; median and 

 lesser coverts pale sepia or dusky-brown, tipped and notched creamy 

 or golden. 



First winter. Male and female. — Like adults but distinguished 

 by creamy or golden tips and notches of retained juvenile median 

 coverts (especially innermost), by pale golden tips to feathers of 

 rump, fading later to white, and by jagged spear -like shape of one- 

 or more very abraded juvenile innermost secondaries in which 

 cream coloured notches wear away but black-brown parts resist. 

 The juvenile body-plumage (not all scapulars and not feathers of 

 back and rump), occasionally tail, some innermost secondaries and 

 coverts, some median and lesser coverts are moulted Sept. to Jan. 

 but not rest of wings. N.B. — One dated March was still moulting 

 into winter plumage. First summer. — Apparently like adult and 

 only to be distinguished by innermost median coverts. N.B. — - 

 Only one male and one female examined and in both a good many 

 winter body-feathers had been retained. Moult apparently as adult ; 

 in one tail-feathers were old and worn, in the other, one central tail- 

 feather appeared to be new. 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 182-202 mm., tail 69-82 r 

 tarsus 43-50, bill from feathers 27.5-30 (12 measured). $ wing 186— 

 202, bill 27-30. Primaries : 1st minute, 2nd longest, 3rd 5-9 mm. 

 shorter, 4th 17-20 shorter, 5th 29-33 shorter, 6th 42^9 shorter. 

 Longest inner secondary between 4th and 6th primaries. Tail 

 square and short. Bill about as long as head, straight, stout, convex, 

 at tip, nasal groove extending almost to tip. Four toes, hind one- 

 diminutive and sometimes absent, middle and outer ones webbed 

 at base, middle and inner slightly webbed, claw of middle toe- 

 dilated on inner side. 



Soft parts. — Bill black ; legs and feet ash-grey ; iris blackish. 

 Characters and allied forms. — S. s. hypomelcena (N.E. Siberia, 

 Alaska) is larger (bill 29-34.5 mm. Hartert) ; S. s. cynosuroe, (N. 

 America) said to be smaller, is doubtful. Distinguished in all 

 plumages from Golden Plovers by black axillaries. 

 Field -characters. — On spring and autumn passage and to lesser 

 extent during winter is not uncommon on mud-flats and estuaries, 

 but rare inland. Compact bullet -headed bird, similar in form to 

 Golden Plover, but rather larger, and adult readily recognized by 

 silver, instead of gold, spangles on upper -parts. Young have some 

 yellow, but axillaries are black. Call-note resembles that of Golden 

 Plover, but is sharper and lacks its peculiar liquid quality. 



