Charadrius virginiacus at Malta. 41 



Tunis are well known to the readers of the ' Annals.' In this 

 letter he mentions having procured at Malta " a little golden 

 plover, which, on comparing with C. jjluvialis, 1 tind quite di- 

 stinct, being only the size of C. morinellus, and much longer in 

 the tarsus. It was shot in company with another of the same 

 species in March 1845. They are occasionally observed in Malta 

 every second or third year, generally early in spring, and have 

 never been noticed in company with C. pluvialis, but generally 

 solitary or in pairs. They have not been observed with black on 

 the breast. The man who shot it informs me that he has fre- 

 quently killed them, and that he can immediately recognise 

 them by the note, which is peculiar, differing from that of C. plu- 

 vialis, and more resembling that of C. hiaticula." 



Capt. Drummond has subsequently been in England, and 

 showed a specimen of this bird to Mr. Yarrell, who ascertained 

 it to be the Charadrius virginiacus. 



This species possesses a far more extensive geographical dis- 

 tribution than the better-known Charadrius jjluvialis. The latter 

 occurs throughout Europe, and is recorded as far east as Trebi- 

 zond and Siberia. But C. virginiacus not only frequents the 

 whole of North and South America, but extends over the Poly- 

 nesian Islands to the Malay Archipelago and India, as well as to 

 Australia and New Zealand*. We have now evidence of its 

 visiting Malta for a short time early in spring, a fact which clearly 

 proves that it must winter in Africa, and, occasionally at least, pass 

 the summer in some part of Europe, though it has never yet been 

 obtained in either of these continents. This has probably been 

 owing to the resemblance of its plumage to that of C. pluvialis, 

 which bird is recorded by Malherbe in his ' Faune Ornitholo- 

 gique de la Sicile,' by Schembri in his ' Catalogo Ornitologico 

 del Gruppo di Malta,^ and by Von der Miihle in his ' Beitrage 

 zur Ornithologie Griechenlands,^ but without any indication of 

 their having noticed the C. virginiacus. 



The distinctions between C. pluvialis and C. virginiacus are 

 numerous, and are carefully pointed out by Sir W. Jardine in 

 his edition of ^ Wilson's American Ornithology,' vol. ii. p. 362. 

 It will therefore suffice to mention here that C. virginiacus is 

 rather smaller than C. pluvialis, has rather longer tarsi, and has 

 the under wing-covers and axillary feathers of a graij brown, 

 while in C. pluvialis they are pure white. 



* The AustraHan C. xanthocheilus of Jardine's * Illustrations of Orni- 

 thology/ plate 85, and of Gould's ' Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. plate 13, 

 is certainly identical with C. virginiacus. The true C. xanthocheilus of 

 Wagler inhabits New Zealand (in company with C. virginiacus) ; and, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Gray's Catalogue, there are three specimens of it in the 

 British Museum from Van Diemen's Land, though it seems to be omitted 

 by Mr. Gould. 



