Gould recalled: 'I know of no sound more exhilarating to the naturalist engaged in an expedition to the breeding haunts of this pretty species than that of its wild piping calls...The restless males flit here and there before him and perch, one on a stone, another on a gate...or fly over his head, with their coral legs...streaming out behind.' He added 'During flight a W-shaped mark produced by the white tips of the primaries shows very conspicuously.'

The male and female are depicted in summer plumage with a young bird of the first autumn.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds Eurasia from Iceland, Faeroes, British Isles and Scandinavia east to Anadyland and south to southern Europe, north Africa, Turkey east as far as Mongolia. Winters from south Europe east across south Asia to southeast Asia, and to south Africa