THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 477 



outermost pair extend to the outer webs. The bill and feet are 

 dull yellowish, the colour of the former passing towards the tip 

 into horny black. 



In the young autumn bird, the colour of the upper parts is 

 duller, and of a shade rather like that of G. morinellus ; all the 

 feathers have light buffy grey (rostgelblich graue) borders. In my 

 example these are much faded, but in one of the posterior flight- 

 feathers, which happens to have been renewed, it is of a much 

 fresher, dull orange-brown colour (rostorange). The upper breast 

 is of the same colour as the back, the median feathers having buff- 

 coloured edges at their tips. The forehead, eye-streak, cheeks, and 

 foreneck, are dull yellowish white, and all the lower parts from the 

 upper breast downwards are white. The bill and feet are ochreous 

 yellow, the former being black at the tip. The tail and flight- 

 feathers are of the same colour as in old birds. 



The measurements are as follows : Length of wings, 5 '7 8 ins. 

 (147 mm.), projecting -63 in. (16 mm.) beyond the tail; length of 

 bill, '75 in. (19 mm.) ; tarsus, T57 in. (40 mm.); naked portion 

 of tibia, '67 in. (17 mm.). 



An egg from the area of the Caspian is considerably smaller 

 than that of the Dotterel ; the ground-colour is buff, with a strong 

 touch of olivaceous ; the markings consist of very small round 

 and oval blackish-brown spots, the latter not being so large, and 

 not coalescing as frequently, as they do in the Dotterel ; they are 

 scattered uniformly over the whole surface of the shell, and are 

 not very crowded. The shell is devoid of gloss, resembling that 

 of C. cantianus in this respect, but it feels much rougher to the 

 touch than that of the latter species. The eggs measure T45 in. 

 (37 mm.) in length, and T06 in. (27 mm.) hi their greatest breadth, 

 which is about the middle ; the smaller end is only slightly more 

 pointed than the larger. 



The breeding range of this Plover appears to extend from the 

 Caspian, through Turkestan, no farther than central Asia. 



273. Ringed Plover [HALSBANDREGENPFEIFER]. 



CHARADRIUS HIATICULA, Linn. 1 



Heligolandish : Kiiker ; probably onomatopoeic, after the call-note. 

 Charadrius hiaticula. Naumann, vii. 91. 

 Ringed Plover. Dresser, vii. 497. 



Grand pluvier a collier. Teinminck, Manuel, ii. 539, iv. 357. 



The somewhat melancholy note u-u-ut of this prettily- 

 marked bird maybe heard very early in the spring, in mild weather 



1 JUgialilis hiaticula (Linn.). 



