602 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



light pink-cinnamon streaked sepia ; lores sepia ; chin, throat, 

 breast and under tail-coverts light pink-cinnamon more or less 

 spotted sepia, feathers tipped white ; flanks same but strongly 

 barred instead of spotted ; belly and vent whitish, sometimes 

 suffused pale pink-cinnamon ; rest of body-plumage as winter ; 

 tail as winter but central pair sometimes suffused light pink- 

 cinnamon ; wing as winter but new innermost secondaries and 

 coverts, median and lesser coverts as scapulars. 



Nestling. — (Not examined.) 



Juvenile. — Crown black-brown or sepia, feathers edged cinna- 

 mon or cinnamon-buff ; nape dusky-ash slightly streaked sepia ; 

 mantle and scapulars black-brown, feathers broadly edged and 

 barred cinnamon -buff ; lower scapulars ash-brown edged white or 

 buff ; back and rump as adult winter ; upper tail-coverts faintly 

 tipped buff ; eye -stripe buff spotted dusky ; lores dusky ; ear- 

 coverts, cheeks and sides of neck ash-brown streaked sepia ; chin 

 buff -white, sometimes minutely spotted dusky ; throat and upper- 

 breast more or less suffused buff, narrowly streaked and spotted 

 sepia ; flanks white barred and spotted ash-brown, tipped (and 

 sometimes suffused) buff ; belly, vent and under tail-coverts more 

 or less suffused light buff ; axillaries and under wing-coverts as 

 adult ; tail as adult but most feathers tipped buff ; wing as adult 

 but innermost secondaries and coverts sepia, tipped cinnamon -buff, 

 with or without irregular markings of same ; median coverts edged 

 with dull greyish-buff or cinnamon-buff, not with white as adult 

 winter ; lesser coverts as adult winter. 



First winter. — As adult winter but distinguished by some 

 juvenile scapulars and innermost secondaries, also by faded cinna- 

 mon-buff edges to juvenile coverts and to central pair of tail- 

 feathers, when not moulted. The juvenile body-plumage (appar- 

 ently not back or rump nor all scapulars), sometimes tail, inner- 

 most secondaries and coverts, some median and lesser coverts are 

 moulted Sept. to Feb. but not rest of wings. First summer. — (Not 

 examined.) 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 138.5-151.5 mm., tail 

 48.5-57, tarsus 32-37.5, bill from feathers 52-64 (12 measured). 

 § wing 146-152, bill 64-75 (8 measured). Primaries : 1st minute, 

 2nd longest, 3rd equal or 6-7 mm. shorter, 4th 6-12 shorter, 5th 

 14-20.5 shorter, 6th 22-29 shorter. Longest inner secondary 

 between 4th and 7th primaries. Tail square, central feathers longest. 

 Bill long, slender and slightly enlarged at tip which in dried skin 

 is covered with a net -work of small depressions. Four toes, outer 

 and middle ones webbed up to about first joint. 



Soft parts. — Bill black-brown, greenish at base ; legs and feet 

 greenish-black ; iris dark brown. 



Characters and allied forms. — M. g. scolopaceus (Alaska) is 

 larger and in summer plumage has abdomen uniform pink-cinna- 

 mon. Red-breasted Snipe is distinguished by its long straight bill, 



