THE BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER. 599 



tipped white ; innermost and their coverts ash-brown shaded sepia 

 centrally ; primary-coverts black-brown tipped white ; greater 

 and median coverts ash-brown edged white, broadly on greater 

 coverts ; lesser coverts black-brown, narrowly edged white. This 

 plumage is acquired by complete moult Aug. to Jan. Summer. — 

 The body-feathers (not all scapulars nor all feathers of back and 

 rump), often central pair of tail-feathers, occasionally all tail- 

 feathers, innermost secondaries and coverts, a few median and 

 lesser coverts but not rest of wings, are moulted Feb. to May. 

 Crown brown -black, feathers edged cream and buff ; nape buff 

 streaked sepia ; mantle and scapulars brown-black, feathers edged 

 cream, warm buff and tawny ; back, rump and upper tail-coverts 

 brown -black, feathers tipped tawny ; lateral upper tail-coverts 

 white marked dusky ; eye-stripe white spotted dusky ; ear-coverts 

 dusky ; cheeks, sides of neck, chin, throat and upper-breast buff- 

 white, heavily streaked and spotted sepia (chin sometimes white) ; 

 flanks white (sometimes washed buff), shaded and barred sepia ; 

 lateral under tail-coverts white irregularly marked sepia ; remain- 

 ing under -parts as winter ; tail-feathers as winter but new central 

 pair black-brown edged warm buff or tawny, 4th and 5th pairs 

 from outside (when new) sepia tipped white and marked buff 

 towards centre ; wing as winter but innermost secondaries and 

 coverts, new median and lesser coverts black-brown edged tawny 

 or warm buff. 



Nestling. — Down on fore -head white ; black-brown median 

 line from base of upper mandible to crown ; upper -parts variegated 

 dark tawny and black and minutely dotted white ; eye-stripe 

 white ; black-brown line from lores to eye ; ear-coverts and mous- 

 tachial streak tawny ; remaining under -parts white, down greyish 

 at base, upper-breast slightly suffused tawny. 



Juvenile. — Upper -parts and ear-coverts as adult summer ; 

 cheeks and sides of neck light buff streaked dusky ; under -parts as 

 adult winter but lower -throat, upper -breast and flanks suffused 

 buff ; tail and wing as adult summer but median coverts sepia 

 edged light buff or white ; lesser coverts black-brown faintly edged 

 tawny. 



First winter. — As adult winter but distinguished by buff edges 

 to retained juvenile median 



coverts. The juvenile body- ,*<*# 



plumage (not all scapulars 

 and apparently not feathers 

 of back and rump), some- 

 times tail-feathers, inner- 

 most Secondaries and GOV- The Broad-billed Sandpiper (Limicola f. falcinellus) 



erts, some median and 



lesser coverts but not rest of wings are moulted Sept. to Jan. 



First summer. — (Not examined.) 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 102.5-110 mm., tail 35- 

 40, tarsus 21-22, bill from feathers 28-33.5 (12 measured). $ wing 



