388 Letterft^ Extracts, and Notes. [Ibis, 



XXII. — Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 



Little Ringed Plover in the Balearic Isles. 



Sir, — Until March, 1921, this species apparently had not 

 been recorded from Majorca, for v. Jordans liad not observed 

 it and only quoted Homeyer writing of it as the rarest 

 plover, and some general remarks about it. 



In 1920 I sent to the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain some eggs 

 I obtained here, which closely resembled Little Ringed 

 Plovers', but from which I had certainly identified the birds 

 as Kentish Plovers. Mr. Jourdain at once questioned the 

 identification of these eggs, but I was able to assure him 

 that, without doubt, the birds from these nests were Kentish 

 Plovers. 



I had hoped to find the Little Ringed Plover here, and 

 looked for it carefully, but in 1920 not a single bird of this 

 species was seen in the district; nor until March 1921 did I 

 observe any, when, as I have stated in the " Birds of Alcudia " 

 (Ibis, 1921, p. 712), a few small parties passed through the 

 district, but I do not think that more than three pairs 

 remained to nest ; and one ef tliese pairs, whose nest I 

 found on the unusually early date of 16 March, in the area 

 affected by the Kentish Plovers, entirely disappeared after 

 their eggs Avere taken. The two other pairs nested in a 

 locality quite outside that where the Kentish Plovers breed. 



To make sure that my identification of the eggs, which 

 Mr. Bunyard questions, Avas correct ; in one instance, where 

 the nest contained two eggs only, so closely resembling 

 Little Ringed Plovers' that I hoped they might belong to 

 that species, I left them for some days in order that more 

 might be laid, and that I might have more opportunities of 

 identifying the birds ; I was able, therefore, daily to put 

 the bird off its eggs, and to make sure to which species 

 it belonged. There was not the least doubt that it was a 

 Kentish Plover, and it was quite unnecessary to shoot it, as 

 it IS comparatively tame at its nest, while the Little Ringed 

 Plover is quite the opposite. 



