Birds of Spitsbergen. 589 



Chermside saw a Ringed Plover in Wijde Bay^ which at- 

 tempted to entice hira away by shamming lameness^ as if its 

 nest was close at hand/^ 



One example was seen by our party last year. This, a 

 female, was shot in Advent Bay by Mr. Studley on June 

 17th, and is now in the National Collection. 



-t-13. Strepsilas interpres (Linn.). Turnstone. 



There is no doubt that the Turnstone is an occasional 

 visitor to Sj)itsbergen, although visitors to that land have 

 been exceedingly unlucky in obtaining specimens. The only 

 recorded example I can meet with is that of Mr. Alfred 

 Cocks : " I shot a single specimen in Is Fjord on Aug. 23rd " 



(Zool. 1882, p. 408). Prof. Newton beheved he saw Turn- 

 stones in Is Fjord, and I saw a single example last year flying 

 low over the sea within two yards of my boat on July 29th. 



14. Phalaropus ruLicARius, Linn. Grey Phalarope. 



The Grey Phalarope has been referred to by many visitors 

 to Spitsbergen, but it is evidently very sparingly scattered. 

 A''on Heuglin makes the same curious remark about this 

 species as of one or two others : " It certainly prefers to 

 sojourn on rocky islands, with moorlands, containing fens 

 and pools, rather than on the mainland.^' What can this 

 mean, and where are such islands off Spitsbergen ? Even 

 the group of large islands to the north-west do not corre- 

 spond to this description, nor is it from there that the Grey 

 Phalarope has been reported. 



Of course the bird on Spitsbergen, as elsewhere, frequents 

 any appropriate swampy ground. I was unlucky in not 

 finding eggs; unfortunately we shot in Advent Bay, on 

 June 23rd, a pair that would have bred, and these are in the 

 National Collection. Their stomachs contained mosquito 

 larvae. On July 3rd, 1894, Col. H. W. Feilden saw two 

 pairs in Green Harbour, and was fortunate enough to find a 

 nest containing two eggs. " The male bird was on the nest " 

 (Zool. 1895, p. 88). 



-^15. Tringa striata, Linn. Purple Sandpiper. 

 This little Sandpiper is extremely abundant in Spitsbergen 



