55° LESSER GOLDEN PLOVER. 



to Davis Strait, as well as in the northern part of Greenland ; while 

 on passage it traverses Canada and the United States, seldom 

 occurring on the coast of California, but rather inclining to the east 

 of the Rocky IVIountains. In September and October large flocks 

 often arrive in the Bermudas, the birds being extremely fat and 

 highly appreciated for the table ; while on Antigua, Martinique, 

 Barbadoes, and other West Indian Islands, they are sometimes so 

 tame or exhausted that they can be knocked down with sticks 

 and stones. The migrations extend through tropical America, to 

 Argentina on the east side and Chile on the west. 



A nest of the Asiatic bird which Seebohm found on the Yenesei, 

 was upon a piece of turfy land overgrown with moss and lichen, 

 and was a mere hollow in the ground, lined with broken stalks of 

 reindeer moss; while Mr. H. L. Popham says that the eggs are paler 

 in ground-colour than those of the Golden or the Grey Plover : 

 measurements 2 in. by i"33 in. The eggs are 4 in number. Mr. 

 MacFarlane, in his notes respecting the nidification of the American 

 form on the Barren grounds, gives the average measurements 

 as 1*9 by 1-3 in. The habits and food of this bird are similar 

 to those of its congener ; but its note, according to Seebohm, is 

 more like that of the Grey Plover, being a plaintive ki), sometimes 

 kl-ee, and often the treble kl-ce-ko ; Mr. Popham also states that it is 

 very distinctly recognizable. 



In the breeding-season this species differs from the Golden 

 Plover in being smaller, and in having the axillaries suioke-grey to 

 their bases instead of white ; the latter distinction existing at all 

 seasons of the year. The winter-plumage, however, according to 

 Seebohm, " differs widely from that of the Golden Plover, though it 

 resembles very closely that of the Grey Plover, the spotted feathers 

 of the upper parts being replaced by feathers having yellow margins. 

 Young in first plumage resemble adults in spring-plumage on their 

 upper parts, except that the tail-feathers, instead of being dark 

 brown with transverse bars of pale brown, are uniform dark brown 

 with marginal yellow spots." Young in down obtained by Mr. 

 Popham are less marked with black on the sides of the head than 

 are those of the Golden Plover, and the yellowish-white band across 

 the hind-neck is more clearly defined. Average length of the 

 Asiatic race 9 in., wing 6-5 in. ; of the American 9*5, wing 675 in. 



It has not been considered necessary to give an illustration of 

 this species. 



