447 



colour among the feathers of the upperside of the breast : the legs have a decided shade of brown. Total 

 length 7 - 8 inches, culmen TO, wing 6 - 4, tail 2 - 2, tarsus 1*6, middle toe TO. 



Formosa. A series of seven specimens is now before us, all collected by Mr. Swinhoe, and contained in 

 his own collection and in those of Lord Walden and Canon Tristram. They are principally in winter dress, 

 though three of them exhibit remains of the black plumage on the breast. We notice a shade of brown on the 

 legs of most of these birds, it being more apparent in those further advanced in their winter livery. Total 

 length 8-5-9-0 inches, culmen 0-95-1-0, wing 6-2-6-6, tail 2-1-2-5, tarsus 1-55-1-6, middle toe 0-95-1-0. 



China. Thanks to the perseverance of Mr. Swinhoe, we have in this country several specimens of the 

 Eastern Golden Plover, collected by him in different parts of China. One obtained at Foochow in October 

 1859, and now in Canon Tristram's possession, is remarkably deep buff on the under surface of the body, with 

 scarcely any white on the lower part of the breast and abdomen. Total length 9 inches, culmen 0-95, wing 6'4, 

 tail 2 - 4, tarsus 1*6, middle toe 1'0. Mr. Swinhoe has three specimens from Canton, procured on the 30th of 

 April, 1860; these consist of two females and a male, the latter being in full black summer dress, whereas the 

 hen birds have only a slight appearance of black coming on the breast, the one killed on April 30th being even 

 less advanced than the one killed a few days later. It is evident therefore that the female does not assume the 

 breeding-dress so soon as the male. Dr. Jerdon says that "the alteration of colour to black takes place as 

 well by a partial renewal as by a change in the feather itself." This change is exemplified in Mr. Swinhoe's 

 specimens ; for while some black feathers are just sprouting, in others the black colour is gradually spreading 

 over the plumage. Total length 7 - 5-8 - 5 inches, culmen 0-75-0-95, wing 5'9-6'3, tail P9-2-5, tarsus P5-P65, 

 middle toe O'9-l'O. The bird which presents the curious minimum measurements of the above specimens is 

 the female shot in May 1860. Out of eight examples of the present species from Amoy only one is in full 

 breeding-plumage, and that one was killed in May 1861. All the others are in different stages of winter dress, 

 one killed in September 1867 having still considerable remains of the black plumage. Total length 7'7-8-4 

 inches, culmen 0'85-l - 0, wing 5 - 9-6 - 5, tail 2 - 2-2'5, tarsus 1-55-1-6, middle toe r0-l - 05. Of the two males 

 in breeding-plumage the one killed at Canton has very dark legs, while the Amoy skin shows a strong tinge of 

 brown and ochre. 



New World. 



Specimens from different parts of America have a longer wing and tarsus than those from Asia ; but the 

 specimens examined from North America run very close to the last-named birds. Thus a bird in Mr. Harting's 

 collection, from the Arctic seas, killed in lat. 69° 30' N., long. 173° 20' E., on the 3rd of September, 1852, 

 measures as follows : — Total length 9 inches, culmen 0'9, wing 6'5, tail 23, tarsus 1*65, middle toe TO. 

 Mr. Harting has himself alluded to this bird in his paper on the Barrow collection at Oxford (P. Z. S. 1871, 

 p. 115), and we cannot do better than produce his words here : — 



" The characters by which these two may be distinguished have not been defined. Both are smaller than 

 the European C. pluvialis ; and both differ from it in having the axillary plumes smoke-grey instead of pure 

 white. The tarsus, also, is somewhat longer and more slender in proportion than that of the European bird. 

 I have now before me eight skins of C. virginicus from various American localities, north and south, and 

 fourteen skins of C. longipes from India, China, Australia, and the Malay archipelago. A careful comparison 

 of these gives the following results : — (1) That C. longipes is invariably smaller than C. virginicus, the respective 

 measurements being as under — 



Bill. "Wing. Tarsus, 



inch. inches. inch. 



C. virginicus 1 7 to 7 - 4 1*6 



C. longipes -8 to -9 6-4 to 6-6 1-5 



C. pluvialis . 9 7'5 1*4 



(2) That C. virginicus at all seasons (but more especially in winter) has far less of the golden colour on the 



