OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 21 



Radde to be laid in April ; that naturalist, in fact, took nests in 

 April and saw the chicks by the middle of May. The nest is 

 nothing but a little hollow in the sand, with a few bits of grass or 

 weed arranged round the margin. Even this slight addition is 

 often dispensed with. The eggs are usually three, but sometimes 

 four in number, very oval and Pigeon-like in shape, but olive or 

 brownish buff in ground colour, profusely spotted with dark 

 brown and underlying markings of gray. They are, on an 

 average, 17 inch in length by i"i inch in breadth. The female 

 sits lightly and soon flies from her nest if threatened by danger, 

 leaving the eggs to the concealment afforded by their protective 

 colour. The hot sun also assists largely in incubation, and as 

 soon as it is sufficiently high above the horizon to dispense its 

 genial warmth, the nests are said to be left, and the parent birds 

 to go off in pairs to feed and drink. Incubation lasts a month, 

 and the young, as soon as they are hatched, are able to run and 

 forage a good deal for themselves. Two broods are said to be 

 reared in the year. 



Diagnostic Characters. — Syrrhaptes, with the legs and toes 

 feathered to the claws, with no hind toe, and with the first primary 

 and the two central rectrices finely pointed. The latter charac- 

 ter not so pronounced in the female or young. Length, 15 to 

 20 inches. 



