348 chaeadeiidjIS. 



on open sandy islands, even in company with the Terns ; and in the 

 north of the Saharunpoor district I twice found the eggs laid on 

 shingle on the banks of the Jumna." 



The late Mr. A. Anderson says : — " The Indian Spur- winged 

 Plover invariably lays on the beach of large rivers (never high 

 banks), or in sandy islands, in close proximity to the water's edge ; 

 and, according to my experience, is never found inland, — thus 

 differing very materially, both in its habits and nidification, from 

 its more common ally, Lobivanellus indicus. As in the case of 

 Lapwings generally, the eggs are four in number, and are placed 

 with the pointed ends inwards, in a slight hollow made for their 

 reception. 



" I have generally found the eggs placed on the bare soil, or (in 

 Bundlecund) amongst shingle and pebbles ; but my friend, W. 

 Bryson, has furnished me with the following anecdote in reference 

 to a deviation from the general rule : — ■' This nest I had great 

 difficulty in finding, as the birds had taken possession of a ready- 

 made depression in a melon-field, where the seed had apparently 

 failed ; and they had actually lined the hollow, first with small chips 

 of drift-wood, and then with pieces of dry moonj grass, with which 

 the cultivators were enclosing their melon-fields into square patches 

 to prevent the sand drifting over the creeping-plants. The bird 

 (which proved to be a female on dissection) returned to the nest 

 immediately after I had removed the eggs, and so great was her 

 disappointment that she scattered all the materials with her feet, 

 occasionally picking up the straws with her bill, and tossing them 

 away with violent jerks of her head.' 



" On one occasion I found the eggs of this bird within a few 

 inches of the water, in an angle of a half-burnt charpoy ; the 

 charred wood, clothes, and skull were lying close to it. 



"The eggs are slightly smaMer, perJiaps more pyriform, and the 

 ground-colour is much greener than is usually the ease with those 

 of Lobivanellus indicus ; still I have one clutch of the latter, taken 

 by myself, which is not distinguishable from the usual run of the 

 eggs of Hoploptenis veniralis." 



The eggs very closely resemble those of L. indiaus, and after the 

 remarks above quoted no separate description of them is necessary ; 

 all that can be said is that, as a body, the eggs of this species are 

 somewhat smaller, and their markings smaller and less bold than 

 those of L. indicus. 



In length they vary from 1-42 to 1-78, and in breadth from 1-12 

 to 1-3 ; but the average of fifty is 1-58 by 1-18. 



