SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 489 
troile ; but distinguished by more stout and abbreviated figure of 
bill, and much shorter distance from its tip to the nasal orifices. 
Habits the same. Fig. an adult. 
PraTe VIII. Keptuschka Lapwing,— Vanellus Keptuschka,—le 
Vanneau Keptuschka, Fv. A rare species from eastern Europe ; in- 
habiting, also, Persia, Asia Minor, and Siberia ; and believed, by Dr. 
Wagler, to be identical with V. gregarius. Closely allied to V. 
cristata : yet thought “ sufficiently distinct from the typical form of 
the genus, to constitute a separate group.” Fig. an adult male, and 
young bird. 
Prate IX. Great Eastern Horned Owl,—Bubo Ascalaphus,—le 
Hibou Ascalaphus, Fv. A magnificent species; inhabiting southern 
and eastern Europe ; and apparently representing, in the temperate 
regions of Asia and Africa, B. maximus, of the north. Habits, and 
nidification, unknown. Fig. an adult male, splendidly executed. 
Priate X. Dusky Shearwater,—Puffinus obscurus,—le Pétrel ob- 
secur, Fr. Distinguished only, by inferiority of size, from, and be- 
lieved to resemble in habits, P. Anglorum ; but frequenting the 
southern, while the Jatter is “almost exclusively confined” to north- 
ern seas. No differences of plumage, dependent on sex or age. 
Fig. an adult. 
Pirate XI. Black-winged Gull,—Xema—Larus—atricilla,—ie 
Mouette a ailes noires, Fr. Not the LZ. atricilla of Temminck,— 
Zema ridibunda. of modern Ornithologists; but an American bird ; 
one specimen only of which has, hitherto, been taken in Britain. 
Habits, and food, those of its congeners. Frequents marshes and 
newly-ploughed fields, in search for worms and insects. Nest: formed 
in marshes near the coast. Eggs: 3, dull-clay colour, thinly and 
irregularly blotched with pale purplish-brown. /%g. an adult bird. 
Prate XII. Semi-palmated Sandpiper,— Totanus semi-palmatus, 
—le Chévalier semi-palmé, #7. An inhabitant of North America; 
described by Wilson,—see American Ornithology, by Jardine, vol. 
ii, p. 319,—under the name of Willet: so termed from its peculiar 
ery : toes, as the specific designation indicates, half-webbed. Food : 
the inhabitants of bivalve shells, aquatic insects, and marine worms. 
Nest: of wet rushes and coarse grass, among herbage of' salt- 
marshes. Hggs: 4, very thick at greater end, and tapering to a 
narrow point at smaller: dark dingy-olive, blotched with blackish- 
- brown : and, during incubation, resting, nearly upright, on the smaller 
extremity. J%ig.two adult birds, in summer- and winter- plumage. 
Pirate XIII. Snow-Goose,—Anser hyperboreus,—l'Oie hyper- 
VOL. 1X., NO. XXVII. 62 
