1?^6 BRITISH BIRDS. 



PEBBLE NEST OF A RINGED PLOVER. 



In reference to Mr. Pycraft's article on the nest of the Ringed 

 Plover (Vol. L, p. 373), it may be worth while to give details 

 of a somewhat unusual nest which I found with four fresh 

 eggs on July 2nd at Langston Harbour, near Portsmouth. 

 The nest was formed of small pebbles, and a few little pieces 

 of broken shell. It completely filled a rather deep hoof-mark 

 of a cow in sun-baked mud. There were 2000 pebbles, 

 weighing seven ounces, and they must have been collected 

 from a distance of twenty yards. H. Lynes. 



LAPWING'S NEST WITH FIVE EGGS. 

 On April 15th I was shown by a gamekeeper a Lapwing's 

 {V ancllus vulgaris) nest with five eggs. I examined the eggs 

 carefully, and found incubation had just begun. All the eggs 

 were exactly similar, and looked as if laid by the same bird. 

 The nest was in the middle of a large grass field, and no 

 other Lapwings but the one pair \Aere within half to three- 

 quarters of a mile. The estate is strictly preserved, and no 

 boys had been near to interfere, nor had the keeper any 

 object in placing the fifth egg there. I think all were laid, 

 without doubt, by the same bird, and as the case seems to be 

 a perfectly authentic one I think it may be worth recording. 



R. H. Rattray. 



[The Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain informs us that he has notes 

 of the occurrence of five eggs in one nest in the case of the 

 following species of Limicoloe : — Golden Plover, Lapwing 

 (numerous instances), Redshank, Snipe, Common Sandpiper, 

 Solitary Sandpiper and Curlew. — Eds.] 



SOLITARY SANDPIPER AND OTHER WADERS IN 



KENT. 



When walking along the coast of Kent on July 18th last, I put 

 up a Sandpiper which, from its very dark colour, I knew to 

 be something out of the ordinary. I marked the bird down 

 and stalked it behind a sandbank, getting to within seven 

 or eight yards of it. Owing to its very dark greenish- 

 brown plumage and pure white underparts, pale brown 

 tliroat, and dark Sandpiper bill and legs, I concluded that 

 I had obtained an exceptionally fortunate view of the Green 

 Sandpiper. To make absolutely certain of its identity, I 

 put it up, expecting to see the pure white rump, but, to my 

 surprise, the rump was the same colour as the back, the white 

 only coming up on either side, as in the Common Sandpiper. 



