452 MR. R. SWINHOE ON A NEW DEER FROM NINGPO. [June 16, 



the herbage, and lays only three eggs, rather larger than Partridges' 

 eggs, of a dusky colour variegated with black, and better-flavoured 

 than hen's eggs." 



" The male and female always keep together ; and one rarely sees 

 them in flocks. When they perceive that any one is looking for 

 their eggs, they quietly retire as far as they can from the nest, 

 squatting down on the grass, nor do they show themselves except at 

 a distance and without manifesting the least alarm ; but should they 

 see the intruder approaching their cherished brood, they rise upon 

 the wing and dart down at him with the greatest fury. 



" This trait (which they share in common with the Lapwing) and 

 the other above-mentioned peculiarities, or characteristics, at first 

 induced me to place it in the same genus, calling it Tringa chilensis ; 

 but the small fleshy protuberance on the forehead * compelled me 

 to leave it in the genus Parra, from which, however, it differs by 

 the moderate size of its toes. 



" It has been observed that these birds never call out at night 

 except when they hear some one pass. On this account the Arau- 

 canians make use of them in time of war, as so many sentinels on the 

 alert to give warning against a surprise of the enemy. 



" In times gone by the gentry of the country amused themselves 

 by hawking at these birds with trained Falcons ; but now they shoot 

 them with guns. 



"Their flesh is not inferior to that of the Woodcock." 



A similar account is given more briefly by Gay in his ' Fauna 

 Chilena,' vol. i. p. 400 ; and Bridges (I. s. c.) has not added much 

 more to the history of the bird. He describes it as " one of the 

 most common birds found on the plains near the Andes and in other 

 parts of the country," and found its food to consist of worms, 

 locusts, &c. The eggs he described as excellent eating and resem- 

 bling those of the Lapwing of England, Vanellus cristatus — a de- 

 scription which was subsequently confirmed by Yarrell, who gave a 

 more detailed account of their size, colour, and appearance (P. Z. S. 

 1847, p. 54) from specimens which had been forwarded to him from 

 Chili. 



9. On a Small, Tufted, Hornless Deer from the Mountains 

 near Ningpo. By It. Swinuoe. 



[Received June 16, 1874.] 



(Plate LIX.) 



My friend and correspondent Mr. A. Michie wrote me a letter, 

 dated Shanghai, December 19, 1873, as follows : — "I send another 

 note to overtake the mail, to tell you I have just found a new deer 



* Tbis was a mistake on the part of Molina. No such protuberance is 

 observable in the birds before me. 





