524 RINGED PLOVER. 



in Greenland and on the opposite side of Smith's Sound ; but in 

 America its representative is AL. semipalinaia, a smaller species 

 with more developed webs between the toes. In Iceland our bird 

 arrives in May and leaves in September, while on the Continent it 

 inhabits most suitable localities, becoming rarer in the interior of 

 compact countries like Russia, and more abundant in those which 

 present a varied coast line, or are intersected by large rivers. It 

 occurs in Novaya Zemlya, and along the northern shores of the Old 

 World as far as Bering Strait ; from which regions it emigrates on 

 the approach of winter The small race already mentioned breeds 

 down to Madeira, the Canaries and Northern Africa, visiting the 

 extreme south of that continent and also Egypt in the cold season ; 

 in Central Asia it nests on the large salt lakes down to Turkestan, 

 and it occasionally wanders to the north of India ; while Gould 

 states that he received a specimen from Port Stevens, Australia. 



The nest is usually a mere shallow cavity in the sand, sometimes 

 lined with small stones, but Col. H. W. Feilden has recorded an 

 exceptional instance in which the green fleshy leaves and stems of 

 Atriplex liitoralis were employed. Laying becomes general by the 

 middle of April, and two broods are usually produced in the season, 

 freshly-hatched young being often found in the first week of August. 

 The eggs are 4 in number, pear-shaped, and of a stone-buff colour, 

 spotted with black: average measurements i"4 by i in. Various 

 devices are practised by the parents to divert attention from their 

 nesthngs, though the latter can run as soon as they emerge from the 

 shell, and are not easily seen, owing to the similarity of their colour 

 to the surroundings. The food consists of worms, insects, and thin- 

 skinned crustaceans, such as shrimps, sand-lioppers «&:c., particles of 

 grit being taken to aid digestion. The usual note is a melodious 

 whistle, and the alarm-cry may be syllabled st.?, pe?i-y-ef, but during 

 the pairing-season the cock has a distinct love-call. 



The adult male in spring has the forehead and a stripe behind 

 each eye white ; fore-crown, lores and sub- ocular region black ; chin, 

 throat and neck white, followed by a black collar, broadest on the 

 breast ; nape and upper parts hair-brown, with a narrow white alar bar ; 

 outer tail-feathers chiefly white, the rest brown with white tips ; lower 

 breast and belly while ; bill black at the point, yellow at the base ; 

 legs orange. Length 775 ; wing 5 "5 in., in the smaller Continental 

 form only 5 in. The female has the black collar less defined, and 

 in winter both sexes are duller in colour. The young bird has the 

 beak blackish, no black band on the fore-crown ; loral stripe and 

 gorget dusky brown ; legs pale yellow. 



