AVES CHARADRIID^ 



285 



unfortunate human being on all occasions, whether in the breeding-season 

 or not. Sportsmen hate them most heartily, as it is well-nigh impossible 

 to stalk anything if there are any 'Teru-Terus' about. Apart from this, 

 the harsh ear-piercing cries become most wearisome and even distressing 

 after a time when you are passing over ground where there are many of 

 these beautiful birds. Even in autumn I have had a bird dash at me time 

 after time as I rode along and come so close that I struck at it with my 

 'revenque' (the short cow-hide whip one invariably carries). The e^rgs 

 which are fully as hard to find as our Peewit's, are laid on the open camp! 

 and the breeding-habits seem very similar to those of our bird. For 

 instance, Mr. Burgess rode suddenly on to a pair (nth November), and, 

 disregarding the wing-trailing business of the male, saw the female stand- 

 ing up over a single fresh egg, doubtless waiting for a good oppor- 

 tunity to slip quietly away. The peones say that when a pair find their 

 eggs in danger from a flock of sheep coming in their direction they remain 

 over the eggs, making violent demonstrations, and that the sheep open 

 out when they come to them and close up again when they get past. In 

 the early part of January, when the young were on the wing, they went 

 in flocks. A young one shot on the 9th had colour of soft' parts very 

 dull, and wing-spur very little developed, or about 0.2 inch long. Later 

 in the year the flocks broke up again, although little parties of half a 

 dozen or so might be seen together. They were breeding in November: 

 nth, one fresh egg; i8th, four hard-set; last days of the month, four 

 fresh. At Sta. Florencia in mid-December, a little flock frequented the 

 chacra and used to go through the strangest antics ; they went about in 

 threes a good deal and did much bowing and aimless running about." 

 (O. V. Alpin, on Birds Uruguay, Ibis, pp. 205-206, 1894.) 



The British Museum has received numerous specimens of Belanopterus 

 chilensis from Lake Blanco, Chubut, collected during the months of Sep- 

 tember and October by J. Koslowsky. 



Genus ZONIBYX Reichenbach. 



Zonibyx, Reichenb. Av. Syst. Nat, p. XVIII (1852); ^^^' 



Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. XXIV. p. 238 (1896); 

 Sharpe, Hand-List Bds. I. p. 153 (1899) \ . . . . Z. modesta. 



