932 SQUATAROLA HELVETICA. 



but was told by the inhabitants that they did not breed there. There is much yet to be learnt 

 concerning its breeding-home, for we have yet to discover the whereabouts in the nesting-time of those 

 which migrate up the Baltic from Western Europe. Herr Collett asserts that it breeds in the mountains of 

 Finmark ; but I am not aware that its eggs have been procured in that country. Mr. Durnford met with 

 Grey Plovers in pairs at Husum and in the island of Sylt at the end of May ; but these were, it is to be 

 presumed, on passage. 



Leaving the continent of Europe and referring now to its African distribution, I find that, according 

 to Col. Irby, Favier states that it is seen about Tangier from December until March ; and Mr. T. Drake 

 likewise records it from Morocco. It has been noticed in Algeria ; and in Egypt it is distributed throughout 

 the Delta and north coast in winter ; and Von Heuglin says it is found along the coast of the Red Sea 

 and in Kordofan ; he observed it as late as April. It extends down both sides of the continent to the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and spreads eastward to Madagascar and the Seychelles, from both of which regions 

 Mr. E. Newton records it. Captain Sperling noticed it as being common at Zanzibar; and in Natal 

 Mr. Ayres procured it. Layard writes that he never saw the Grey Plover in Cape colony in breeding-dress, 

 but that he procured many specimens in winter dress there and along the east coast as far north as 1^° 

 south. In Damara Land Mr. Andersson obtained it in winter. Further north it has been obtained in 

 Gaboon, as also on the Gold Coast and in Senegambia; and in the Canary Islands it has also occurred. 



Its distribution in America is almost as extensive as it is in the Old World, for it is found from Green- 

 land, where it was met with in summer by Reinhardt, down the coast to the West Indies, where it has been 

 obtained in Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad, and the Bahamas. In Guatemala Mr. Salvin met with it at Chiapam ; 

 aud in Texas Mr. Dresser procured it in autumn and spring. 



Habits. — This most cosmopolitan of all the Plovers is quite a sea-coast species, frequenting sea-beaches, 

 the sandy shores of inlets and river-mouths, tidal flats, and other situations on the immediate sea-board. 

 It associates usually in small troops of six to a dozen, and is often met with singly, consorting then with 

 the Sand-Plovers {JEgialitis) . Its greater size and its large 'head and bill will always serve to distinguish it 

 when feeding from the Golden Plover of Ceylon ; and when on the wing, passing the observer, its black 

 axillaries forming a conspicuous tuft are at once recognizable, and easily distinguish it from its lesser ally. 

 I found it, on the few occasions on which it came under my observation in Ceylon, a shier bird than the 

 Golden Plover, inclined to be wary and impatient under observation. The specimen I killed at Elipekadua 

 was feeding at a little distance from some Sand-Plovers at the edge of a pool in the tidal flat, and was 

 knocked over at a long shot as it rose and flew round me. Its flight is somewhat heavy ; and I noticed that 

 a small troop which passed me in a pour of rain flew slowly and close together, forming a compact flock. 



Nidificcttion. — Until lately the breeding-haunts of the Grey Plover remained almost undiscovered ; but 

 ornithologists are now indebted to those indefatigable travellers, Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie Brown, for a 

 knowledge of its nidification and an acquaintance with its eggs. These gentlemen found this species breeding 

 in the great tundras lying between the Petchora river and the Ural mountains. Von Middendorff had 

 previously brought eggs from Northern Siberia, but had not published any details concerning its nesting. 

 Nests were found on the Petchora from the 22nd of June to the 12th of July, the places chosen for them 

 being low-lying boggy tracts on the tundra in preference to the higher and more undulating parts of it. 

 They were " simple shallow depressions in the moss or peaty soil, lined with a small handful of broken twigs 

 and leaves of the surrounding plants." Mr. Harvie Brown writes that the bird's behaviour near the nest was 

 similar to that of the Golden Plover, " sitting erect on the higher hummocks, running rapidly across the 

 hollows, whistling at intervals, then flying in a wide circle round the nest — not, like the more cautious 

 Dotterel, running round the hummocks or grey stones, pausing in the hollows, silent, running over a ridge 

 out of sight, head down, aud reappearing from a diametrically opposite direction." Concerning the bird's 

 voice and other habits during the breeding-time, we learn that the notes are " three in number -.—first, the call- 

 note between male and female, a double whistle, the first syllable short, the second drawn out ; second, the 

 alarm-note, a single plaintive whistle, about half a note higher than that of a Golden Plover ; and, third, a treble 



