Family CHARADRIID^. Genus Charadrius. 



Subfamily Charadriin^. 



GRAY PLOVER. 



CHARADRIUS HELVETICUS— (^/-/mc^). 



Geographical Distribution. — British .■ Most abundant on 

 autumn passage on the coasts of the British Islands, but numbers 

 remain to winter, and in spring a considerable stream of migrants, 

 returning north to breed, pass along our shores. Most abundant 

 on our eastern coasts, but small numbers regularly visit the west 

 of Scotland. Less numerous in Ireland than in England, and 

 becomes rare on the Outer Hebrides. Foreign : Circumpolar 

 region in summer; Patearctic, Nearctic (?), Neotropical, Oriental, 

 and Australian regions in winter. The only known breeding 

 grounds of the Gray Plover are situated in the lower valley of 

 the Petchora, on the Taimyr peninsula, and the delta of the Lena, 

 in Alaska, on the banks of the Anderson River, and on Melville 

 peninsula, all districts of the tundra above the limits of forest 

 growth. Passes Central and Southern Europe, the Canaries, 

 South Siberia, Turkestan, Mongolia, and Japan on migration, and 

 winters in the basin of the Mediterranean, in South Africa, India, 

 South China, the Malay Archipelago, Australia, New Guinea, and 

 the Solomon group and adjacent isles. In the New World it 

 passes the Bermudas on abnormal migration, and winters in the West 

 Indies and in South America as far south as Peru and Brazil. 



Allied Forms. — None more nearly related than Charadrius 

 pluvialis, and C. fulvus, with allied races, all of which have been 

 treated with in the preceding chapters. 



Time during which the Gray Plover may be taken.— 



August I St to March ist. 



Habits. — The Gray Plover is a well-known bird on the British 

 coasts between the months of October and May, and although 

 many of the individuals that arrive in autumn pass on to more 



