146 



PR.ECOCIAL GKALLATUULS - I.IMICOL^. 



I 



.1 



:i. 

 I' ' ' 



iiii 



tilt' 9tli of that month. ( Mi th»' UoKiiiiifhi, lut. 70° N., they arrived May LM, and wore 

 not noticed later than Aii>,'ust .'U. Tliev nested on the li:iriens of rid.skuj-Ostrog. 



Aeeordinj? to Mr. Heiiiv Whitelv, as i[\ioted liy Mr. Dresser, it is liy no means a 

 rare liird in .lajian, wiii're he ol(taine<l three s|)eeimens. Sept. L't and Oet. .'{, IHCm. 

 In India, aeeordin^' to I>r. .lerdoii, it ueeiirs (^eiierally in open phiins, ^I'li^^^y thnviiH, 

 ploiigiied fields, and on the edt,'es of rivers and lakes, assoeiatinj,' in Hocks of varying 

 magnitude, and feeding,' on lieetles and other hard insects, worms, and the like. ||c 

 speaks of it as having a shrill whistling,' call, and as flyin),' very rapidly, lie also 

 states that many hreed in that conntry — even toward the sonth, as at Nellore — 

 while others were oliserved to pass northward to Itreeii, retnrnin^j in Septendier. 



Mr. Iloldworth mentions this species as heing very common in Ceylon in winter, 

 especially in the north of that island, extending as far south as (loliunho. I'rcd'essor 

 Schlegel nd'ers to more than sixty specimens (d' this species, collected in nearly every 

 island of the Malay .Vrchiiielago, and now in the Leyden Museum. 



In Australia, aeeording to Mr. (Jould, although nowhere very abundant, this bird 

 is generally dispersed all over the colonies, from Tasmania northward. Several 

 specimens were procured on the hanks of the Derweiit in Tasmania, and others were 

 observed in small nundters on the flats below Clarence Plains, lie also killed exam- 

 ples on an island in Uass's Straits. Its habits, manners, and general economy are 

 said closely to resend)le those of the (Jolden I'lover (d' Kurojte. It freipients o|)eii 

 plains in the nei;,'hbornood of marshy lands or the sea-beach, runs with amazing 

 facility, and Hies with great rapidity. Indications of the bn-eding-plumage begin to 

 appear early in the spring. Mr. Gould thinks that none remain to breed in any of 

 the southern parts of Australia. 



Dr. K (Tiiilfe mentions finding this Plover in Tongatabn, one of the Tonga Islands, 

 where it occurred in flock.s of from thirty to fifty individuals. They ran in search 

 of food on sand-banks hd't dry at low water, and when approacdicd within gunshot 

 uttered a shrill tuli-lnH-twi-tiri, and then took to Hight. At high-water they freciuented 

 the open grassy jdaces on fitdds and fallows. This species was found all the year 

 round on that island, but was more numerous from October to March, and during the 

 season of migration. 



Mr. Layard (" Ibis," 187S, p. li()l') mentions its occurrence in Now California, where 

 it was found breeding cm the i.slets off An.servata, elo.se to Noumea; and Mr. Hlakiston 

 (" Ibis," p. lilS) speaksof it as connuon throughout .Japan. .Mr. I{. Swinhoe ("Ibis," 

 1874; mentions meeting with this species at Ilakodadi in Japan in May. He else- 

 where gives the range of this species as throughout China. He procured it between 

 Takoo and I'ekin, and states that he found it a common bird near (Janton, ])assing 

 the summer there. He also sjieaks of finding it in Formo.sa, where it was common 

 all the year round, breeding in great abundance in nuirshy plains U) the southwest. 

 He also met with it in his excursion to Hainan, and states that it was connuon in the 

 marsh near the city on the 5th of Ftdiruary. He found it in the dry rice-tields of 

 Paklai, in Western Hainan, on the 21st of March, and abundant anutng the sweet- 

 potato gardens of Hoitow on the 23d of that month. On the 2d of April, at Kinnge- 

 how, he saw these birds on the l)each, Avhere they were then l)eginning to acquire the 

 black uuderdress of sununer. 



According to Mr. Swinhoe, its eggs — four in number — are laid in a loose nest 

 of dried grasses and fibres placed in a hollow. They have a yellowish-gray ground, 

 blotched and spotted with deep blackish sepia, and have occasional obsolete purplish 

 gray spots. The eggs do not vary much in their size, are narrowed near one end, and 

 measure 1.50 inches in length by 1.10 in breadth. 



