254 BULLETIN 146, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



female on Aufjust 14 and a male on September 1, 1927. Two others 

 were seen on August 14, one on September 11, and one on September 

 13. It looks as if this might be more than a casual straggler in 

 Alaska. 



Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1885) writes: 



The Mongolian plover is a very common resid<Mit on the Commander Islands; 

 in fact, one of the most characteristic birds of their fauna. It is one of the 

 brightest and handsomest shore birds, and is always gladly welcomed when 

 making its appearance during the first half of May. I used then to watch with 

 delight these elegant runncTs, wondering at the almost incredible rapidity with 

 which tliey move their legs when chasing each other over the jjebbly beach, or 

 trying to escape the approaching hunter. Very soon, however, the pairs retire 

 to the place chosen for the summer home, and, as soon as the eggs are laid, 

 the birds become more shy and do not expose themselves as much as they did 

 before. 



Nesting. — There are three sets of eggs in the United States Na- 

 tional Museum taken by Doctor Stejneger in the Commander Islands 

 " during the first days of June." He says that the birds " do not fly 

 directly from the nest but run away a distance from it before taking 

 Avincf," which makes it difficult to find the nests. A nest he describes — 



Was found on the islet Toporkof, on the 4th of June, 1883, and contained 

 three eggs. They were lying, with their pointed ends inwards and downwards, 

 in a slight hollow in the ground between the stems of four Angelica archangeUca. 

 Dry particles of the leaves and stems of this plant, and numerous seeds of the 

 same, formed the nest, being evidently brought together by the bird itself. 

 The situation of the nest was about 40 feet from the line of high water and 

 about 14 feet above the level of the sea. 



Mr. Jourdain contributes the following: 



Interesting confirmation of Doctor Stejneger's observations on the breeding 

 habits and eggs of this species have been furnished by the recent discovery 

 of the breeding haunts of the western race by Messrs. H. Whistler (102.5) 

 and B. B. Osmaston (1927) at high altitudes in the Himalayan range. Mr. 

 Whistler found at least five pairs breeding on the stony wastes near the 

 Chandra Lake in Lahul, at 14,000 feet on July 10 to 11. Two clutches, each of 

 three well-incubated eggs and one brood of three downy young were taken. 

 Other pairs were subsequently found breeding in Spiti (13,500 ft.) and on the 

 northern slopes of the Bara Lancha range. Mr. B. B. Osmaston found this 

 species not uncommon in South and East Ladakh in summer, between 13,000 

 and 15,500 feet. It was located as breeding in Rukshu near the Tsokar and Tso 

 Morari Lakes at about 15,000 feet and between the Indus and Shushal at 

 14,000 to 14,500 feet, by the Pangong Lake at 14,000 and in the upper Surun 

 Valley at 13,000 feet. 



In every case three eggs or young were found and the nest was a slight 

 depression in the sand, among shingle (Osmaston, 1927), or in hollows among 

 the trailing stems of a small creeping ground plant with a woodlike stem, 

 sparingly lined with broken chips and fragments of the plant stems (Whistler 

 1925). 



