540 RINGED PLOVER. 
Greenland, as well as on the opposite side of Smith Sound and Davis 
Strait ; but in America proper its representative is 2. semipalmata, a 
smaller species with more developed webs between the toes. Our 
bird reaches Iceland in May and leaves in September, while on the 
Continent it inhabits most localities which are suitable, becoming 
rarer in the interior of compact countries like Russia, and more 
abundant in those which present a varied coast line, or are inter- 
sected by large rivers. It nests on Kolguev, Novaya Zemlya, and 
along the northern shores and the higher tundras of Siberia as far 
as Bering Strait ; migrating southward on the approach of winter. 
The small race already mentioned occurs as far south as Madeira, 
the Canaries, and Northern Africa (including Egypt), going down to 
the Cape of Good Hope in the cold season; while in Central Asia 
it nests on the large salt lakes as far as Turkestan, and exceptionally 
it wanders to the north of India. 
The nest is usually a mere shallow cavity in the sand, sometimes 
lined with small stones, but Col. H. W. Feilden has recorded an 
exceptional instance in which the green fleshy leaves and the stems of 
Atriplex littoralis were employed. Laying becomes general by the 
middle of April, and two broods are usually produced in the season, 
freshly-hatched young being often found in the first week of August. 
The eggs, 4 in number, are pear-shaped, and of a stone-buff colour, 
spotted with black: measurements 1°4 by 1 in. Various devices 
are practised by the parents to divert attention from their nestlings, 
though the latter can run as soon as they emerge from the shell, and 
are not easily seen, owing to the similarity of their colour to the 
surroundings. The food consists of worms, insects, and thin- 
skinned crustaceans, such as shrimps, sand-hoppers, &c. ; particles 
of grit being taken to aid digestion. The usual note is a melodious 
whistle, and the alarm-cry may be syllabled as pemy-ef, but during 
the pairing-season the cock has a distinct love-call. 
The adult male in spring has the forehead and a stripe behind 
each eye white ; fore-crown, lores and sub-ocular region black ; chin, 
throat and neck white, followed by a black collar, broadest on the 
breast ; nape and upper parts hair-brown, with a narrow white alar 
bar ; outer tail-feathers chiefly white, the rest brown with white tips; 
lower breast and belly white ; bill black at the point, yellow at the 
base; legs orange. Length 7°75; wing 5°25 in.; in the smaller 
Continental form only 5 in. The female has the black collar less 
defined, and in winter both sexes are duller in colour. The young 
bird has the beak blackish, no black band on the fore-crown ; loral 
stripe and gorget dusky brown; legs pale yellow. 
