306 LIMICOL^. 



visitor on migration to the Japanese Islands. In October 1857 Dr. 

 Henderson visited Hakodadi, during the cruise of the ' Portsmouth/ 

 and procured on the shores of a salt-water creek a bird which is 

 recorded as being indistinguishable from the European Dotterel 

 (Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1858, p. 195). 



The breeding-range of the Common Dotterel extends from the 

 British Islands, across Northern Europe and Siberia, 



306. CHARADRIUS MINOR. 

 (LITTLE RINGED PLOVER.) 



Charadrius minor, Wolf and Meyer, Vog. Deutschland, i. p. 182 (1806). 



The Ringed Plovers are a widely spread and numerous section of 

 the genus. They combine the following characters : — white axil- 

 laries, no hind toe, white belly, and a dark subterminal band across 

 the tail. There are two Ringed Plovers in Japan. The Little 

 Ringed Plover is a small species (length of wing from carpal joint 



Head of Charadrius minor. Natural size. 



about 4^ inches) , with a slightly graduated tail (outer feathers less 

 than a quarter of an inch shorter than the central ones) . 



Figures : Dresser, Birds of Europe, vii. pi. 524. 



The Little Ringed Plover breeds in all the Japanese Islands. It 



