Birds. 9127 
conclusion that both sexes have the same note, yet it is curious that, 
although I have for many years been constant in my endeavours to 
settle the question to my own satisfaction, I have never yet heard the 
female utter a sound of any kind. In the winter of 1862-3, this species 
was very scarce at Baltasound; the inhabitants accounted for this by 
the fact that during that season the unusual abundance of small fish 
attracted large flocks of shags, whose presence alarmed the longtailed 
ducks: the latter most certainly dislike the company of other species. 
Lapwing.—Lapwings were making their nests early in April, but 
the first eggs that I heard of were found on the 12th. I have some 
curious specimens in my collection; some of a pale reddish stone- 
colour, with faint bluish gray marks, and one of a very pale cream- 
colour, with a well-marked zone of small black dots. 
Ringed Plover.—The first ringed plover’s eggs were found on the 
26th of April, but most of the birds had paired and returned to their 
breeding-places some weeks previously. I have seen fresh eggs as late 
as the first week of July. The favourite breeding-ground in this neigh- 
bourhood is situated about half-a-mile inland, at the foot of a range of 
steep hills, and with a large extent of cultivated land lying between it 
and the sea. The nests are invariably found in the bare gravelly 
patches which so frequently occur among the stunted grass and 
heather, a preference being shown to the vicinity of water, even though 
the quantity be barely sufficient to glisten in the sunshine. A perfect 
nest consists of a saucer-shaped hollow scraped in the ground and 
lined with small stones, which are sometimes so thickly piled around 
the sides that the eggs are found standing almost perpendicularly upon 
their small ends. Like the oystercatcher, the ringed plover will 
frequently make more nests than it requires for use, and three or four 
may sometimes be found within a few yards of a sitting bird. Occa- 
sionally the presence of a large stone or a root at the bottom of one of 
these hollows shows sufficient cause for abandonment, but it often 
happens that these extra nests are carefully lined and finished. ‘The 
cavity of a perfect nest measures from four inches and a half to five 
inches across, according to its depth, the deepest being, of course, also 
the widest. The most remarkable variety of the egg that I have seen 
is of a yellowish colour, with a few large blotches of dark brown, and 
is so similar in appearance to the second figure of the quail’s egg in 
the second edition of Mr. Hewitson’s work on the ‘Eggs of British 
Birds,’ that almost every person to whom I have shown it has been 
struck by the resemblance. The only other egg which the nest con- 
tained was of the ordinary form and colour. 
