204 
KEDSHANK. 
pure white, the pale space longer in extent towards 
the last quill, and here barred and freckled with 
greyish-brown ; secondary quills pure white, with 
distant indistinct bars of white towards the ends ; 
the markings towards the base darker, irregular, 
and more crowded ; the upper tail-coverts white, 
barred with black ; the tail white, approaching to 
grey or hair-brown at the tip, barred with black, 
and tinted with rufous. Before appearing in the 
livery of winter, the flocks present many modifi- 
cations of plumage. Out of a large flock, on the 
Solway Frith, in the end of August, we were once 
so fortunate as to procure thirteen specimens at 
one shot ; among these, the upper part had, in the 
greater part, assumed the uniform hair-brown of 
winter, but many of the darkly marked and barred 
feathers were still interspersed ; on the lower parts 
the white was more pure, but there still more or 
less dotted and barred with blacldsh-brown ; on 
both, however, and indeed on the whole, all tinge 
of rufous had disappeared. In the perfect win- 
ter dress, the upper parts are of uniform greyish 
hair-brown ; the lower parts pure white, dashed 
with narrow longitudinal streaks of grey on the 
throat, neck, and sides of the breast ; on the 
flanks, the markings assume the form of irregular 
bars ; and the centre of the breast and belly, with 
the vent, are unspotted ; in both these states the 
base of the bill is rich tile-red ; the legs and feet 
bright orange. In the young birds the upper 
parts are wood-brown, each feather edged on 
