954 ^GIALITIS CURONICA. 



but the statement of the latter that it breeds from May till December probably applies to the smaller bird. In 

 Sambalpur and Orissa Mr. Ball met with this species, and he remarks that it is common on the larger rivers 

 of Chota Nagpur ; he notes it from many places in the Deccan and also from the Rajniehal hills. Mr. Hume 

 obtained it from Raipur, and notices it as occurring near Calcutta in the winter. In Furreedpore it is resi- 

 dent, dwelling all the year round on the banks and churs of rivers ; and it has been ascertained to breed on 

 the Ganges at Futtegurh. It is found in Kurrachee harbour, on the rivers of Sindh and the Punjab, in 

 Kattiawar, Kutch, and Jodhpoor in the cold season; and Capt. Butler met with it on the Guzerat plains in 

 the rains. At Sambhur it is common in the cold weather. It was obtained in the delta of the Irrawaddy by 

 Dr. Armstrong, and in Tenasserim it is a cold- weather visitant to the coasts and likewise to inland localities. In 

 the Andamans it is rare, having been only procured by Mr. Davison on South Andaman, and on the Cocos and 

 Preparis. It has been procured in the Malay peninsula and Singapore. In Sumatra Raffles obtained a small 

 Plover which he named a variety of Ch. hiaticula, and which we may reasonably consider was this species. In 

 Java it has been obtained by Knhl, Boie, Van Hasselt, and Horsfield. As regards Borneo, it has been 

 obtained, according to Salvadori, at Tabanioand elsewhere, and more recently Everett shot it at Sibu. Rosen- 

 berg procured it in Celebes. Turning north again, we have Luzon in the Philippines assigned by Sonnerat as 

 its habitat; and in 1877 Mr. Everett obtained seven specimens in this island, which the Marquis of Tweeddale 

 relegates to this species. Swinhoe found it in Hainan and Formosa and in the southern part of China in 

 winter, remarking that it breeds in the north of the empire at Talien Bay. In Japan, Blakiston and Prver 

 record it from Yokohama, Yezo, Tokio, and Fujisan, and say that it breeds at Yamanaka Lake. Schrenck 

 observed it throughout Amoor Land, and found it abundant on the river; Radde met with it at Tarei-nor in 

 April, and says that it is numerous at Lake Baikal in April. Prjevalsky observes that it breeds in South- 

 eastern Mongolia, and states that he found nests in Ordos and Ala-shan ; it arrives first at Dalai-nor about 

 the 9th of April, and is rare at Lake Hanka. Dr. Scully writes that it is a seasonal visitant to the plains of 

 Kashgar, arriving at the end of March, breeding in May, and leaving in September ; in the Karakash valley 

 he met with it in August at an elevation of 12,000 feet, and mentions the curious fact of getting a young bird 

 in December. According to Severtzoff it breeds all through Turkestan up to 4000 feet. Mr. Hume records 

 it from Muscat and the Mekran coast. Captain Wardlaw Ramsay met with a pair on the Keria river in 

 Afghanistan in June; and Mr. Blanford observed what he took to be this species at Shiraz in Persia; but in 

 the northern parts of the country it is common in summer. Canon Tristram found it in Palestine on the 

 Kishon. It is common in Asia Minor, European Turkey, and Southern Russia, as also in Greece, in all of 

 which countries it breeds. It migrates through Austria to Germany, where it is common; but in Italy it is 

 resident, although only a visitor in Malta, according to Mr. Wright. In summer it ranges as far north as 

 Northern Russia, Finland, and Scandinavia, up to about 60° N. lat., and breeds in Norway, Sweden, and 

 Southern Finland. It likewise nests in Denmark. To England it is a straggler, having been noted as 

 occurring eleven times, according to Mr. Harting ; it has not been noticed in Scotland and Ireland, but is said 

 to have occurred in the Faroes. In Northern France it is rather rare, but in the south it becomes more 

 abundant and breeds in that part of the country. In Spaiu and Portugal it is common. Mr. Saunders found it 

 breeding near Aranjuez; and according to Col. Irby it is more abundant in summer in Audalucia than in 

 winter : he found it common in Morocco. In Algeria it is tolerably common, a few remaining to breed ; 

 it has been met with there by Loche and by Messrs. Gurney and Salvin. It extends down the west coast to 

 Gambia and the Gold Coast, and was procured at Accra by Governor Ussher; beyond this it is said to have 

 been obtained near the equator by Du Chaillu. In Egypt and Nubia Capt. Shelley says it is resident and 

 abundant throughout the country both on the rivers and in marshes inland. Further south Yon Heuglin met 

 with it on the Nile as far as the equatorial region, and also on the Red-Sea shores; but he says that it is not 

 very common and was only observed by him in the winter. On this side it has been known to stray as fal- 

 si mth as Mozambique, and has also been obtained as a solitary straggler in the Mauritius. Mr. Wyatt met 

 with it iu Sinai at the marshes of Tor. 



Habits. — This little Ringed Plover prefers dry and bare fields, waste land, sandy commons, and similar 

 open localities in which there are small pools of water, near which it runs about, feeding on water-insects, 

 minute beetles, tiny snails, and so forth. It is generally found moving about alone, with a companion or two 



