208 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
Regent inlet. (Arct. Man.) This species was observed on August 
15th, 1886, near a shallow lake, about 1100 feet above sea level; 
a nest and eggs were found near Godhavn, Greenland, on June 
14th, 1880. (Hagerup.) 
276. Little Ring Plover. 
Zegiahitis dubia (Scop.) SWINH. 1871. 
Accidental on the coast of Alaska. (A.O.U. List.) 
277. Piping Plover. | 
Aegivalitis meloda (ORD) BOoNnapP. 1838. 
This species, besides being a migrant, breeds in suitable places 
in nearly all the eastern provinces. It was found breeding by 
Downs at Port Petpiswick, Nova Scotia, by Tufts on Seal island, 
Yarmouth county, N.S.; by Bishop, near high water-mark om the 
Magdalen islands; and by W. Saunders on Pelee point, Lake Erie. 
It is not a widely distributed species and seems to prefer the sea 
coast. Mr. Saunders writes that while there is no doubt that this 
bird formerly was found at Point Pelee and Rondeau, Lake Erie 
its place has now been taken there by the belted piping plover, and 
at Toronto, according to Mr. Fleming, all the specimens in local 
collections taken before 1894 are referrable to meloda ; the first record 
of curcumcincta was in 1891, and all recent records belong to this form. 
BREEDING NoTES.—A very noisy species that is quite abundant 
at the Magdalen islands, where I found four nests in 1897, but I 
have not observed it in Ontario. It is an interesting bird running 
along the sandy beach at a great speed and stopping now and again 
to utter its shrill note. Being so much lighter in colour it is at 
once distinguished from 4. semtpalmata, as well as by its note. 
The first nest I found was on the 16th of June. It was on one of 
the sandy bars of Grindstone island. The nest consisted of a little 
hole scooped out on a small hummock of sand, and was tesselated 
as it were with broken pieces of clam shells, after the manner of 
the ring plover of Great Britain. No grass or bits of bark are used 
as with A. semipalmata. The other nests were identical, the eggs 
being fresh in the second week in June. (Rev. C. J. Young.) In 
the latter part of June, 1888, the writer found three nests of this 
