536 GREY PLOVER. 



the east than on the west coast, becoming decidedly rare in the 

 Outer Hebrides. 



The Grey Plover has not been observed in Iceland, and as yet 

 there is no absolute proof of its supposed breeding on the fells of 

 Scandinavia. In 1875 Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown found 

 it nesting on the tundras of the Petchora in European Siberia, 

 while further east Dr. von Middendorff had already obtained its 

 eggs on the Taimyr Peninsula in lat. 74°, and on the Boganida in 

 71" N.; its summer-range extending to Kamschatka. On migration 

 it visits the greater part of Asia, Australia, Tasmania, Madagascar, 

 and both sides of Africa. In the Canaries, and along the whole 

 coast-line of Europe, it occurs on passage ; a limited number also 

 crossing the Continent by way of the valleys of the Rhine and the 

 Rhone — in fact it owes the specific name helvetica to the earliest 

 described specimens having been procured by Re'aumur in Switzer- 

 land ; while another route followed is along the Volga and Kama 

 rivers. Though somewhat rare in Greenland, it is generally dis- 

 tributed during summer over the barren grounds of Arctic 

 America, and its winter-range reaches southward to Guatemala. 



The nest is a slight hollow in the moor ; the eggs from ten 

 identified clutches obtained on the Petchora between June 22nd 

 iind July 1 2th are described by Mr, Seebohm as 4 in number, 

 intermediate in ground-colour between typical specimens of those 

 o: the Golden Plover and the Lapwing, the blotching being similar : 

 average measurements i "9 by i '4 in. The alarm-note is a plaintive 

 kop, sometimes combined with a double klee-eep ; while during the 

 time that the bird is on our coasts its usual call may be syllabled 

 by tl-e-ih, in a much sharper key than that of the Golden Plover. 

 The food consists of worms, marine insects and their larvse, small 

 molluscs and sea-weed ; its flesh is not esteemed for the table. 



The adult male in breeding-plumage has the fore-crown white ; 

 upper parts mottled and barred with brownish-black and white, 

 the latter predominating in the tail-feathers ; lores, cheeks, throat, 

 neck and breast black ; vent and under tail-coverts white ; axillaries 

 black; bill, legs and feet blackish. Length 12 in.; wing 8 in. In 

 the female the black is less pronounced. After the autumn moult 

 the under parts are chiefly white, and the upper plumage has a 

 more ashy appearance, especially in the female. The young are 

 thickly streaked with brownish-grey about the head and neck, and 

 the upper parts exhibit some yellow spots, which have, however, 

 almost disappeared by the end of December ; the axillaries are only 

 dark brown, not black. 



