OXYECHUS. ^EGIALEUS. 23 



are pyriform and gloss-less. The ground is cream-colour, and this 

 is covered in a remarkable manner with an intricate tracery of 

 interwoven lines, both coarse and fine, of a purplish-brown colour. 

 These lines are everywhere thickly disposed over the shell, but they 

 are still more crowded in a series of ill-defined zones round the egg. 

 A pale underlying purple tinge suffuses the shell. Two examples 

 measure respectively : 1-23 by '88 ; 1-25 by -9. 



2. Cape Colony (E. L. Layard) . Seebohm Coll. 



Genus JEGrlALEITS, Reiehenb. 

 JEgialeus semipalmatus (Bp.). 



Charadrius semipalmatus, Thien. Fortpflanz. yes. Vog. tab. lix. fig. 5 a, b 

 (1845-54) ; Seebohm, Geogr. Distr. Charadriidce, p. 123 (1887). 



^Egialitis semipalmatus, Baird, Brewer fy Ridgiv. Water Birds N. Am. 

 i. p. 154 (1884). 



JEgialeus semipalmatus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. xxiv. p. 250 (1896) ; 

 id. Hand-l. i. p. 154(1899). 



The eggs of the Semi-palmated Ringed Plover are pyriform, and 

 possess a small amount of gloss. They are of a pale buff colour, 

 marked with spots aud small blotches which are well-defined, deep 

 black, and of a somewhat roundish form. The markings are more 

 frequent at the larger end than elsewhere, but they seldom coalesce 

 and form patches. The underlying markings are pale purple and 

 inconspicuous. Examples measure from 1-27 to 1*45 in length, 

 and from *93 to 1*03 in breadth. 



2. North America. Thienemann Coll. 



4. North America ( Harting Coll.). Seebohm Coll. 



2. Hudson's Bay (H. E. Dresser}. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



4. Sable Island," Nova Scotia (P. S. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Dodd: Henshaw Coll.). 



2. Disco, Greenland (R. McC.). McCormick Bequest. 



Genus JEGIALITIS, Bole. 

 JEgialitis hiaticola (Linn.). 



Charadrius hiaticula, Hewitson, Eggs of Brit. Birds, ii. p. 296, pi. Ixxvii. 



figs, i, ii (1855) ; Seebohm, Brit. Birds, iii. p. 20, pi. 26 (1885) j 



id. Geogr. Distr. Charadriida, p. 125 (1887). 

 ^Egialitis hiaticula, Dresser, Birds Eur. vii. p. 497 (1876) ; Seebohm fy 



Harvie-Brown, Ibis, 1876, p. 239; Seebohm, Ibis, 1879, p. 155; 



Poynting, Egqs of Brit. Birds, p. 25, pi. 6 (1895-6). 

 ^Egialitis hiaticola, Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. xxiv. p. 256 (1896) ; id. 



Hand-l. i. p. 154 (1899). 

 Charadrius hiaticula ma] or, Seebohm, Brit. Birds, iii. p. 20, pi. 26 (1835) ; 



id. Geogr. Distr. Charadriida, p. 126 (1887) ; id. Eggs of Brit. 



Birds, p. 121, pi. 40. figs. 1, 3 (1896). 



