GRALLATORES. 151 



dark, almost black, is surrounded by a circle of a 

 beautiful bright yellow, and looks as if it were set in 

 gold, but this colour entirely disappears soon after 

 death. At the time it reminded rne a good deal of 

 the eye of the Great Plover (CEdicnemus) on a small 

 scale. 



I had then an opportunity, for the first time, of 

 satisfying myself that the Little Ringed Plover differs 

 also considerably from the Common Hinged Plover 

 in the following respects : 



The shaft of the first quill-feather only, in the 

 wing, is white ; and the white spots, which are always 

 present on the webs of the wing-feathers in the 

 common species, and which give the appearance of 

 a white bar across the wing in flight, are in the 

 Little Ringed Plover absent, and in lieu thereof the 

 tips only of the wing-feathers are margined with 

 dull white. In the last-named species, also, there is 

 a dusky spot on the inner web of the outer tail- 

 feather on each side, which feather in the Common 

 Ringed Plover is always pure white. The number 

 of tail-feathers, however, is the same. 



Before skinning my specimen I took it to Mr. 

 Gould, together with a Common Ring Plover, which 

 I had killed the same day, and which was useful for 

 comparison. Mr. Gould then carefully ascertained 

 the exact measurements and weight of each, which 

 were as follows : 



