Geojjraphi- 

 oal distribu- 

 tion. 



Seasonal 

 chansres. 



100 



CHAEADRIUS. 



The Asiatic Golden Plover breeds' on the tundras of Eastern Siberia, from the valley 

 of the Yenesay to the Pacific. It passes through Japan, South Siberia, and Mongolia on 

 migration, and winters in India, the Burma peninsula, China, the islands of the Malay 

 Archipelago, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. It has been known to stray 

 as far as New Zealand in the east, and to the Mekran coast, Malta, Algeria, Poland, and 

 Heligoland in the west. 



Like most species which breed inland and feed chiefly on the coast during winter, its 

 summer plumage (especially its black belly) is changed in autumn for a less conspicuous 

 garb. 



CHARADRIUS FULVUS AMERIC ANUS, 



AMERICAN GOLDEN F LOVER. 



Diao-nosis. Charadeius fulvus magnitudine majore, tertiariis brevioribus. 



Synonymy. 



Variations. This species completely intergrades with the preceding, and must therefore be regarded 

 as only subspecifically distinct. 



Pluvialis dominicensis aurea, Brisson, Orn. v. p. 48 (1760). 



Charadrins dominicus, Miiller, Syst. Nat. p. 116 (1776). 



Charadrius virginicus, Bechstein, fide Licht. Verz. Donbl. p. 70 (1823) . 



Charadrius marmoratus, PFagler, Si/st. Av. p. 71 (1827). 



Pluvialis virginicus (Licht.), Bonap. Compt. Rend, xliii. p. 417 (1856). 



Pluvialis fulvus americanus^, Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Cursores, p. 53 (1865). 



' The alleged instances of this species breeding in New Caledonia (Layard, Ibis, 1879, p. 107), on the island 

 of Px)rmosa (Swinhoe, Ibis, 1863, p. 404), and in New Zealand (Eobson, Trans. N.-Z. Inst. 1883, p. 308) are 

 either myths or refer to wounded birds, who being unable to migrate, persuaded their mates to remain with 

 them and breed in their winter-quarters. As might be expected, in every case the evidence breaks down. 

 In the first the bird was only seen, not obtained, in the second the alleged eggs are obviously those of a much 

 smaller bird, and in the third the bird alleged to have been breeding was obviously in winter plumage. 



^ Of the three names, americanus, dominicus, and virginicus, the first is the most expressive, the second 

 is the oldest, and the third has been most used. I adopt the first, on the ground that in accepting a trinomial 

 nomenclature as a necessary evil an ornithologist has a perfect right to dictate the terms on which he accepts 

 it. The only way to prevent the indefinite multiplication of trinomials is to make them temporary. The 

 best name of the American Golden Plover is " The American form of Charadrius fulvus," and any ornithologist 

 who likes to abbreviate this into Charadrius fulvus americanus is at liberty to do so. In very few cases in a 

 variable species can a sentence be avoided. On describing a skin of this species from Japan it is generally 

 necessary to say " an intermediate form between the typical and American forms of Charadrius fulvus, but 

 more nearly approaching the former than the latter." I know of no system of nomenclature that is capable 

 of expressing this, and less definite information than this is scarcely worth having. 



