120 ORALLY. 



ash ; the greater coverts with white tips ; the quills dusky, 

 with a white spot about the middle of each, forming a white* 

 streak on the closed wing ; the tail, of which the points of 

 the feathers are wedge-shaped ; the outer ones and tips of the 

 rest white ; the remainder dusky brown. All the under parts, 

 from the black gorget to the tail feathers white, without any 

 tinge of other colour. 



In the female there is less white in the forehead, the black 

 gorget is less pure, the upper plumage wants the brownish 

 tinge, and the colour is more broken by light margins to the 

 feathers ; the coverts have also more white in them, and the 

 outer webs of some of the primaries are white. 



The eggs, which are four in number, and arranged quatre- 

 foil, are deposited on the bare sand, or other dry surface, 

 without any nest, or even without any shelter ; and in walk- 

 ing along a retired sandy beach, just above high- water mark, 

 one is apt to trample on and break the eggs without seeing 

 them, they so nearly resemble the colour of the sand on which 

 they are deposited. From the powerful action of the sun on 

 those surfaces where these eggs are laid, it is probable that 

 oil dry sunny days the process of hatching is carried on with- 

 out the aid of the birds, for on such days one never starts the 

 female from the nest ; she is found running about on the 

 sand, and alternating her coursing with those short flights 

 which these birds take when they are not much disturbed ; if 

 chase be given, they make off in a longer flight. During the 

 night, in all weathers, and during the day, in dull and rainy 

 weather, the female sits ; but she runs upon being approached, 

 and turns and doubles, alternately running and flying, and 

 uttering a twittering sort of complaint. 



The eggs are of a brownish cream colour, spotted with 

 black. The young birds, upon breaking the shell, are covered 

 with a thick down, much resembling the eggs in colour ; they 

 can run almost instantly, but their wings are then little more 



