NON-JNDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 237 



of herbage. The actions of the parents at the nest 

 resemble those of alHed species. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the American Golden Plover are four in 

 number. MacFarlane, who obtained 170 nests, records 

 a ciutch oi five. They so closely resemble those of the 

 Asiatic form that a description is unnecessary. Mac- 

 Farlane gives the average measurements as precisely the 

 same as those of the Old World bird. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of this race of 

 Golden Plover can be safely identified by the locality 

 from which they come. 



Family CIIARADRIID.E. Genus Himantopus. 



Sub-family TOTANINyS. 



C O M M O N STILT. 



HiMAXTOPUS MELANOPTERUS, Meye?'. 



(British. Rare abnormal spring and autumn migrant, chiefly the 



former.) 



Single Brooded. Laying season, from end of April to June, 

 according to locality. 



Breeding area : Southern and Western Pal^earctic 

 region, Ethiopian and Oriental regions. The Common 

 Stilt breeds in the marshes of the Spanish peninsula, in 

 the Delta of the Rhone, in Sicily, the valley of the 

 Danube, and on the Lagoons of the Black Sea. East- 

 wards it breeds on the Kirghiz and Kalmuk Steppes, in 

 Asia Minor, Palestine, Northern Persia, Turkestan, 

 Afghanistan, India, and Ceylon. South of the Medi- 

 terranean it breeds locally throughout the African 

 continent as far south as the Berg river, and probably in 

 Madagascar. 



