92 
RED KNOT. 
greyish-ash, edged with whitish. In winter the 
throat, the middle of the belly, and vent are pure 
white : the forehead, eyebrows, sides, and fore part 
of the neck, the breast and the sides are also white, 
but varied with small longitudinal brown streaks, 
and tranverse zigzag brown ash-coloured bands : the 
head, neck, back and scapulars are bright ash with 
brown shafts : the rump and upper tail-coverts are 
white, crossed with zigzag black streaks : the wing- 
coverts are ash-coloured, edged with white, and with 
brown shafts : the tail-feathers are ash-coloured, bor- 
dered with white : the back and legs are blackish 
green : the irides are brown. The young have those 
parts which are copper-coloured in the old of a bright 
red, till they attain the age of nine months, and 
during the spring : the nape and top of the head are 
yellowish-ash with brown longitudinal streaks: the 
top of the back is varied with bright red and dusky, 
and the oval spots on the scapulars are very bright 
red : the middle of the belly, and sometimes the 
breast, is varied with white feathers and spotted with 
brown ; the proportion of the greyish feathers above 
and white feathers below varies according to the 
period of its moulting. The young previous to 
moulting differ but little from the old in their winter 
plumage. The cinereous hue on their upper parts 
is paler : all the feathers are surrounded by a slight 
dirty yellow border ; with brown longitudinal spots 
on the top of the head and the nape : there is a 
slight reddish tinge on the breast, and a brown stripe 
between the eye and the beak ; the under mandible 
of the latter and the legs being greenish-brown. 
