

134 



PR.ECOCIAL GHALLATOUES — LIMICOL.E. 



i t 



While the coloration dI" tliis sjn'cit's liciirs considi'ra1)lc resonililnnco to that of the Golden 

 Plovers {Chara(h-iiis), it iiiiiy bi' rwulily (li.stiiimiisjied, in nil stii^fs. apart from other marked 

 differences, by the dusky bhuk axillaiK, these fenthera being either Hinoky gray or pure white in 

 the species of Charadrim. 



The well-known Heetle-head, or Uliick-lu'lliod Plover, is t'lniiieiitly cosmopolitan 

 in its distribution, ranging over the northern portions of Asia, Europe, and North 

 America during its periods of re])rodu(!tion, at other times waiuleriug in an irregular 

 manner, in scattered groui)s, over Southern Asia, Northern and even Southern Africa, 

 Australia, the West indies, and Central and South America to IJrazil. 



Mr. Swinlioc (Ibis, 180^, p. 404) mentions finding this sjiecies frequenting the 

 shore?: and the mouths of the rivers of Formosa during winter. This writer after- 

 ward speaks of meeting with it in small fioeks. in the same season, on the river 

 mud-flats at Amoy, where they were seen up to February, but not later. One was 

 kept in an aviary at Anujy, but appeared to have umlergone no change in plumage as 

 late as the end of May. Mr. Swinhor also records tiie procuring of a single specimen 

 on the Islaiul of Hainan; it was shot in the Huiigpe Lagoon on the .'{0th of March. 

 Captain Sperling found this bird conuuon at Zanzibar, where in November he proctired 

 it in immature plumage. Dr. Andrew Smith noticed it at Algoa l?ay, in South 

 Africa, till through the brecdiug-season, and brought specimens to England ; but as 

 none had the black color on the breast, it is not probable that any were actually 

 breeding. Mr. Blyth has obtained this bird at Calcutta ; aiul INIr. Temminck has 

 received it from Japan in both the summer and winter phunage. Specimens from 

 the Sunda Islands and from New Guinea, though killed at ditt'erent seasons, were all 

 in the immature or winter i)lumage. This species is also included by Dr. Horsfield 

 in his list of the birds of Java. Dr. Middendorff mentions this Ph)ver as one of the 

 birds of Siberia, and gives it in his hyperborean list, which incbules the birds pene- 

 trating to the extreme north. Mr. Saunders (Ibis, 1871) states that this Plover is 

 not uncommon in Southern Spain during its migrations. The first specimens were 

 obtained at ^lalaga in May. During the winter few were met with, the majority 

 having evidently gone farther south. Mr. Wheelwright obtained old birds of this 

 species on the southern coast of Scania in August, in nearly full summer dress, as 

 well as those of the year, and inferred that they must have bred somewhere on the 

 European continent. He is confident they do not breed at Quickiock, nor have any 

 of its eggs been taken there by Mr. Wolley or by any one else. Still he thinks that 

 they must breed somewhere on the Scandinavian fells, and they were found breeding 

 in 18G2 in Finland, by Mr. Tristram. I'rofessor A. Newton descril)ed an egg (P. Z. S. 

 1861) which was taken by Middendorff on the Taimyr Kiver, North Kussia, lat. 74°. 

 July 1, 184,'3; and Mr. Wheelwright received what were said to be the eggs of this 

 species from Greenland, and which reseml)led those of the European ('. jdtivialis. 

 Messrs. Alston and Brown (Ibis. January, 1873) mention meeting with this species 

 near Archangel, Russia, June 2. In Great Britain, Farrell gives it as a winter visitor, 

 and not a native resident. It occurs at the end of antunni, through the winter, and 

 in the spring, retiring to high northern latitudes during the breeding-season, and 

 rc-appearing when that season is over. Specimens in the full black phunage may 

 occasionally be procured in the London market in May. Mr. Selby met with a fcAv 

 of these birds in the Fen Islands in June, but could never detect any young. In the 

 winter this Plover is more common on the shores than inland. It is more abundant 

 in Holland and in France than in Germany, and is also found at Genoa and in Italy 

 generally, passing through Sicily on its way to and from Africa. 



