268 BIRDS OF EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 



HOPLOPTERUS. 



Bill thin; at bend of wing a pointed curved spur; no 

 hind toe ; slight crest on head. 



Hoplopterus spinosus (L.). Spur-winged Plover. 



^ $ Above light brown ; crown, occipital crest, apical half of 

 tail, centre of throat, breast, upper abdomen, and under surface of 

 quills blue black ; face, sides of throat, neck, lower abdomen, 

 under tail coverts, and basal part of tail white. Iris red. Bill, 

 legs and feet black. Wing 190-202. Tarsus 65-66. Bill 23-25. 



Breeds. — Nile Valley, north to Alexandria ; possibly Crete ; 

 across Africa, south of Sahara ; also in Syria and Cyprus. Of 

 occasional occurrence in Greece ; rare visitor to Italy and Malta. 

 Apparently resident. 



Arbnaria. 



Bill hard, conical, pointed ; tarsus short. Shore birds in- 

 habiting rocky coasts and nesting among herbage or under shelter 

 of a stone, near the sea; eggs dull greenish grey, blotched and 

 spotted with purplish grey and dull or olivaceous brown. 



Arenaria interpres interpres (L.). Turnstone. Fj-. 

 Tournepierre ; Ger. Steinwalzer ; Ital. Voltapietre ; Swed. Roskarl. 

 ^ ? summer. Above black and chestnut ; crown black 

 streaked white ; forehead, lores, chin, lower back, rump, longer 

 tail coverts, tips of median wing coverts and secondaries, and 

 under parts white ; stripe behind the forehead and under the eye, 

 sides of throat, chest, and shorter upper tail coverts black. Bill 

 greyish black. Legs and feet orange. In winter, upper parts 

 dark black brown with pale brown margins, lores and sides of 

 head brown. Wing i 146-158, ? 1 50-1 59- Tarsus 25-27. 

 Bill 20-23. 



Breeds.— lo-^i'SiW^S. and Greenland, Spitzbergen, Scandinavian 

 Coasts, Lapland, Finland, Danish Islands (rare), shores of Baltic 

 and Islands off Baltic Provinces, N. Russia, Kolguev, Dolgoi, 

 Nova Zembla, and across N. Siberia to Alaska. Migrates ; occurs 

 on passage and in winter on British and other European Coasts 

 south to Mediterranean and Egypt, and widely elsewhere, even 

 through S. Hemisphere to New Zealand. Many remain during 

 summer in winter quarters, but not breeding. 



