Part 47

"Adult female in breeding plumage.--Similar to the male.

"Young birds may always be distinguished by the more mottled appearance of upper surface, most of the feathers being spotted on both webs with whitish or pale, rufescent buff; lower back and rump plentifully mottled with spots of dusky brown, and innermost secondaries very distinctly notched with rufescent buff; streaks on throat and breast and bars on flanks almost as plentifully developed as in the adult; bars on axillars often very incomplete, and, in rare instances, absent.

"The differences between this race and the whimbrel (N. phæopus) of Europe are not so strongly pronounced in all cases as to render the determination of specimens always a matter of certainty. Some of the Philippine specimens, for instance, are very difficult to separate from European examples, and many others also appear to be intermediate between the two forms." (Sharpe.)

The above descriptions of the adult male and of the young are slightly modified from Sharpe's descriptions of Numenius phæopus of which the eastern whimbrel is but a subspecies.

The eastern whimbrel is much smaller than either of the two preceding species and usually it may be killed with little trouble. In the vicinity of tide-flats at high water it often congregates in flocks, but as the feeding grounds become exposed the individuals scatter to various parts following the receding tide. In length the male is about 420; wing, 205; tail, 100; exposed culmen, 82; tarsus, 53; middle toe with claw, 41. Wing of female, 240; tail, 110; exposed culmen, 79; tarsus, 60.

Genus MESOSCOLOPAX Sharpe, 1896.

In structure this genus is similar to Numenius but the tarsus is transversely scutellated both in front and behind.

102. MESOSCOLOPAX MINUTUS (Gould).

PYGMY CURLEW.

Numenius minutus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1840), 176. Mesoscolopax minutus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 371; Hand-List (1899), 1, 159; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 25.

Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Mindanao (Mearns). China, eastern Siberia, Korea, and Mongolia; in winter Japan to Australia.

"Adult female.--Above blackish, mottled with sandy-buff spots and margins; wing-coverts blackish brown, with sandy-buff edges inclining to whitish on greater coverts, which show traces of dusky bars; lesser coverts, alula, primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown; first primary with a white shaft, all the quills rather paler brown on inner web; long inner secondaries tawny on both webs, with dark brown centers and notches; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts blackish, mottled with spots of ashy white, with which color also the feathers are tipped; upper tail-coverts regularly barred with ashy and blackish; tail-feathers ashy gray narrowly barred with blackish; bars six in number, but not always strictly continuous across the feathers; crown blackish, feathers slightly margined with sandy buff; along center of crown a pale streak of the latter color; lores, eyebrow, and sides of face uniform isabelline buff; upper margins of ear-coverts slightly streaked with dark brown; throat whitish; lower throat and fore neck sandy buff like the sides of body, the former streaked, and the latter barred with dusky brown; center of breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts isabelline whitish; under wing-coverts and axillars pale sandy buff, with bars of dusky brown, mostly triangular in shape, the axillars having a slight vinaceous tinge. 'Bill blackish brown, flesh-color at base of lower mandible; feet gray; iris dark brown.' (Dybowski.) Length, 330; culmen, 44; wing, 180; tail, 72; tarsus, 46. (Sharpe.)

"Obtained by Bourns in 1888, while with the Steere Expedition, and not mentioned by Steere." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Genus LIMOSA Brisson, 1760.

Legs and bill long and slender, the latter gently curved upward; culmen, 100 mm. or more.

Species.

a1. Tail barred with blackish brown and white. ... baueri (p. 120) a2. Tail with a white base and broad, black, terminal band; upper tail-coverts pure white. ... limosa (p. 121)

103. LIMOSA BAUERI Naumann.

PACIFIC GODWIT.

Limosa baueri Naumann, Vög. Deutschl. (1834), 8, 429. Limosa novæ-zealandiæ Gray, Gen. Birds (1847), 3, 570; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 377; Hand-List (1899), 1, 159; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 25.

Bantayan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Luzon (Celestino); Negros (Steere Exp.); Samar (Whitehead). Alaska and eastern Siberia; south in winter to Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania.

"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Above blackish mottled with pale chestnut-red; wing-coverts dark brown, with white edgings; many of the coverts tinged with chestnut, especially inner greater coverts; alula, primary-coverts, and quills blackish; secondaries brown, edged with white, a longitudinal, subterminal mark of white along inner web; innermost secondaries like the back; feathers of lower back and rump blackish with white edges; upper tail-coverts barred with black and white or chestnut and black; tail brown, tipped and barred with white, the bars sometimes tinged with chestnut; crown-feathers chestnut, streaked with blackish brown centers, narrower on hind neck; broad eyebrow chestnut; lores and sides of face chestnut with numerous blackish spots on lores; a whitish spot under eye; lower parts chestnut with blackish streaks on sides of upper breast; under wing-coverts white with indistinct, dusky brown spots; axillars white barred with dusky brown. 'Bill clear reddish for its basal half, blackish toward the terminal part, the base of the lower mandible paler; feet blackish brown; iris brown.' (Taczanowski.) Length, 395; wing, 220; tail, 77; culmen, 86; tarsus, 52; middle toe with claw, 36.

"Adult female in breeding plumage.--Similar to the male, but not so entirely cinnamon-rufous below, and with remains of brown bars on the under surface, especially on the flanks. Length, 406; culmen, 109; wing, 240; tail, 82; tarsus, 58.

"Young.--The young birds may be told from the adults in winter plumage by their more tawny color, and by the ashy gray shade on the throat and chest, as well as by the fulvescent bars and notches to the feathers of the upper surface." (Sharpe.)

Winter plumage.--Above ashy brown with rusty shaft-lines; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts white with more or less hidden black arrow marks of dark brown, these taking the form of bars on longest coverts; below nearly pure white; slightly dusky on breast and with a few narrow shaft-lines on breast; under tail-coverts with broken, dusky bars; primaries blackish brown; wing-coverts and secondaries with broken, dusky bars; primaries blackish brown; coverts and secondaries gray with blackish shaft-lines and hoary edges.

Birds taken in the Philippines in the spring are in the white and gray winter dress, but in the autumn (September) many individuals arrive in nearly perfect breeding plumage, while others are in mixed plumage, showing numerous light feathers among the dark and chestnut feathers of the summer dress.

104. LIMOSA LIMOSA (Linnæus).

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.