158 PRiECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL.E. 



The lour adult examples before us differ very considerably from each other in some points of 

 coloration. A Greenland specimen and two skins from the American shore of Cumberland Gulf 

 have the black jugular collar extending upward over the lower part of the throat, forming there 

 quite a. prominent angle, while in a European specimen the anterior border of this jugular collar 



forms a straight transverse line ; in the latter, on the other hand, the posterior edge of the jugular 

 collar is irregular — decidedly concave in the middle, and convex laterally — while in the Amer- 

 ican specimens it runs nearly straight across. Whether these differences between the birds of this 

 species from North America and Europe are constant, can only be determined by the examination 

 of more extensive material. 



Of the American skins, two adult males collected at the same place and on the same day (head 

 nf Cumlierland Gulf, June 2.5, 1878, L. Kumlien) differ remarkal>ly from one another in the 

 width of the white frontal band. In No. 76132 this measures only one tenth of an inch in 

 breadth, while in No. 76133 it is three times as w'ide ! ; there is a nearly corresponding difference, 

 however, in the extent of the black on the crown, this measuring in the two .specimens, respec- 

 tively, .40 and .30 of an inch. 



The present bird, so well known as the Eing Plover of Europe, and until quite 

 recently supposed to have no other claim to a place in our fauna than its rather 

 common presence in Greenland, must now be fully admitted to be a North American 

 species, on other and quite indisputable grounds. An undoubted specimen of it has 

 been taken at Great Slave Lake, and it has since been found breeding within our 

 borders. Professor Newton states that it breeds generally throughout Greenland, 

 and that it is found on Sabine and Clavering islands. It is also said to be abundant 

 on the shores of Possession Bay and Regent's Inlet, and was found by Professor 

 Jorell on the Seven Islands (lat. 80° 45' N.) — at that time the highest northern range 

 of any shore-bird. More recently its claim to be acknowledged as Nortli Ameri- 

 can, as well as High-Arctic, has been confirmed by Mr. Feilden, of the British Arctic 

 Expedition of 1875-76, and by ili'. Kumlien. The former states (Ibis, October, 

 1877) that a single example of this species was observed in Smith's Sound, where 

 it was obtained, Aug. 4, 1875, on the beach bordering the Valley of the Twin Glacier, 

 in Buchanan Strait (lat. 78° 48' N.). It was seen threading its way among the stones 

 and stranded blocks of ice near the water's edge, and was evidently nesting in the 

 neighborhood, as it was a female, and the feathers of the under parts were worn off 

 by incubation, Mr, Kumlien also informs us that this species is apparently more 

 common than even the sendpalmata in Cumberland. It arrives there about the 

 middle of June, and breeds in the same localities as that species. It is also very 

 common about Disco Island, Greenland, where he procured young birds. 



