550 LESSER GOLDEN PLOVER. 
to Davis Strait, as well as in the northern part of Greenland ; while 
on passage it traverses Canada and the United States, seldoin 
occurring on the coast of California, but rather inclining to the east 
of the Rocky Mountains. In September'and October large flocks 
often arrive in the Bermudas, the birds being extremely fat and 
highly appreciated for the table; while on Antigua, Martinique, 
Barbadoes, and other West Indian Islands, they are sometimes so 
tame or exhausted that they can be knocked down with sticks 
and stones. The migrations extend through tropical America, to 
Argentina on the east side and Chile on the west. 
A nest of the Asiatic bird which Seebohm found on the Yenesei, 
was upon a piece of turfy land overgrown with moss and lichen, 
and was a mere hollow in the ground, lined with broken stalks of 
reindeer moss; while Mr. H. L. Popham says that the eggs are paler 
in ground-colour than those of the Golden or the Grey Plover: 
measurements 2 in. by 1°33 in. The eggs are 4 in number. Mr. 
MacFarlane, in his notes respecting the nidification of the American 
form on the Barren grounds, gives the average measurements 
as 1'9 by 1°3 in. The habits and food of this bird are similar 
to those of its congener; but its note, according to Seebohm, is 
more like that of the Grey Plover, being a plaintive 40, sometimes 
&l-éé, and often the treble £/-e-kd ; Mr. Popham also states that it is 
very distinctly recognizable. 
In the breeding-season this species differs from the Golden 
Plover in being smaller, and in having the axillaries smoke-grey to 
their bases instead of white; the latter distinction existing at all 
seasons of the year. The winter-plumage, however, according to 
Seebohm, “ differs widely from that of the Golden Plover, though it 
resembles very closely that of the Grey Plover, the spotted feathers 
of the upper parts being replaced by feathers having yellow margins. 
Young in first plumage resemble adults in spring-plumage on their 
upper parts, except that the tail-feathers, instead of being dark 
brown with transverse bars of pale brown, are uniform dark brown 
with marginal yellow spots.” Young in down obtained by Mr. 
Popham are less marked with black on the sides of the head than 
are those of the Golden Plover, and the yellowish-white band across 
the hind-neck is more clearly defined. Average length of the 
Asiatic race 9 in., wing 6°5 in.; of the American 9°5, wing 6°75 in. 
It has not been considered necessary to give an illustration of 
this species. 
A 
