41 8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



One, Kingsbury Reservoir, Middlesex, Aug. 30, 1864: 

 Harting, Zool, 1864, p. 9283 ; a second obtained there 

 the same month by Mr. R. Mitford : " Birds of Middle- 

 sex," p. 149. In the British Museum. 



Two, West Wittering, and Bishopstone, Aug. 1865 ; Borrer, 

 " Birds of Sussex," p. 206. 



Three out of a flock between Lewes and Newhaven, 

 March 17, 1866: Monk, Zool, 1866, p. 229. 



Obs. The Little Ringed Plover has been described 

 by many authors, and has received a variety of 

 names. It is the Charadrius curonicus of Gmelin, 

 " SystNat.," i. p. 692 (1788), and Beseke,j^(ie Gmelin, 

 "Vog.Kurlands,"p. 66(1792); C. jphilippinus,lj^th?im, 

 " Ind. Orn.," ii. p. 745 (1790) ; C.^wma ^i7is,Bechstein, 

 "Naturg. Vog. Deutschl.," p. 422 (1809); C. minor, 

 Meyer and Wolf, " Taschenb. Vog. Deutschl.," ii. 

 p. 324 (1810). For many years it stood as Chara- 

 drius minor in works on British birds, including 

 the earlier editions of Yarrell, but the older name 

 bestowed by Gmelin in 1788 is that now gene- 

 rally adopted. It is highly probable that many 

 of the specimens referred to in the above-mentioned 

 records as the Little Ringed Plover may have been 

 merely examples of the small Continental race of 

 Ringed Plover {^. hiaticida) which occasionally 

 visits this country, and which has been specifically 

 separated under the name interm,edius. Without 

 direct examination of the specimens referred to, 

 many of which are now inaccessible, it is impos- 

 sible after such lapse of time to say whether the 

 species was or was not correctly determined. 



