100 
WOOD SAKDPIPEK. 
the others tipped with white; secondaries, dusky greenish 
black, slightly tipped with white; tertiaries, greenish brown, 
each feather edged with buff white, triangularly or in an 
elongated manner; here, too, the former colour prevails darker 
and more extensively in summer. 
The tail, rather cuneiform, the outer feather on each side 
larger than the two succeeding ones, and equal in length to 
the fourth, from which they gradually increase in length to 
the middle ones, which exceed the outer by a quarter of an 
inch, is of a greenish black ground colour, with six or more 
narrow cross-bars, a little oblique, of white; the outer feathers 
have their inner webs pure white. Montagu says, ‘The tail 
consists of twelve feathers, the middlemost rather the longest, 
these are barred with black and white alternately, a little 
oblique; on the outer webs are eight black bars, on the inner 
webs six; the next feather has six bars on the outer, and 
four on the inner webs; the third has five, and three bars 
in the same manner; the fourth feather has five and one; 
the fifth and outer feathers are only spotted on the margin 
of the outer web, with one spot on the inner web of one.’ 
Upper tail coverts, white, those next the tail spotted with 
black; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, pale olive 
green, with a faint tinge of blue, and darker green at the 
joints; claws, dusky. 
The female and male are alike. 
In the young the bill is black at the tip, and the base 
tinged with green. From the bill a small dusky bar extends 
to the eye; Over it is a broad white streak that passes over 
the eye, and surrounds it; eyebrows, white, finely streaked 
with pale brown. Head on the sides, white, with narrow 
brown streaks; crown, dusky brown, with narrow yellowish 
white edges to the feathers; neck on the back, and nape, the 
same, but more streaked with white; the neck in front, white, 
with brown marks and shaft streaks, larger and plainer lower 
down. Chin and throat, white; breast, white, each feather 
with a brown streak down the shaft, and very finely margined 
with light brown; the sides marked with waved bars of brown 
and yellowish white. Back above, dusky, with faint reflections 
of green and purple, and bright rufous triangular-shaped spots 
bordering the edges of the feathers; below, dusky margined 
with white. Greater wing coverts, dusky with hardly per¬ 
ceptible reflections of green and purple, and bright rufous 
triangular-shaped spots on the margins of the feathers; the 
