449 



four Plates we have devoted to the three species. A glance at the figures of the Grey Plover and Golden 

 Plover will distinguish them at a glance in their summer plumage, and the Eastern Golden Plover may be 

 recognized from the common species by its much smaller size, and by the bareness of the tibia. In autumn, 

 when the Grey Plover is spotted with golden on the back, and might be confounded with the Golden Plovers, 

 all three species may be determined by the colour of the axillary plumes, as represented in the Plates ; thus, 

 apart from the question of the hind toe in Squatarola helvetica, the species always has black axillaries, while 

 Ch. pluvialis has these plumes white, and in Ch. fulvus they are smoke-coloured. These distinctions hold good 

 all ages of the birds. 



l s* 



The present species has a very wide range in the eastern part of the Old World, but does not 

 often extend into Europe. It has once occurred to Herr Gatke in Heligoland, and, as will be 

 seen by the following notice, it has been now twice met with in Malta. In his " List of the 

 Birds observed in the Islands of Malta and Gozo" (Ibis, 1864, p. 141), Mr. Wright observes: — 

 " Bree says that CJiaradrius longipes, a small variety or race found on the Asiatic sea-coasts, has 

 been captured at Malta ; and Mr. Tristram writes to me that the specimen referred to was shot 

 by Colonel Drummond-Hay." In his second appendix to the above list (Ibis, 1865, p. 463) he 

 writes : — " I have to record the capture in Malta of a second specimen of this denizen of Asia, 

 which, always excepting that extraordinary rendezvous for exotic and little-known species, Heli- 

 goland, is the only spot in Europe in which it has hitherto been found. This example was shot 

 in May 1861. It was consequently in summer plumage; and, before handling it, I mistook it 

 for a small specimen of Charadrius pluvialis in bad condition. It was preserved by a Maltese 

 bird-stuffer, merely on account of its being in a state of plumage not noticed before in this island, 

 the common Golden Plover, its close ally, being known here only in its winter dress. Through 

 the kindness of Signor A. Zammit, who became possessed of it, I have been enabled to examine 

 and compare it with Charadrius fulvus." It has likewise been met with in Algeria; for Loche 

 records a single occurrence near Kouba, in the month of December. 



We have great pleasure in introducing to the notice of ornithologists what we believe to be 

 a new instance of the occurrence of the Eastern Golden Plover in Europe, communicated to us 

 by our friend Dr. Taczanowski, who writes as follows: — "In November 1846, I met with one on 

 a plain about a league from Lublin, with a flock of Golden Plovers. It was easily distinguishable 

 by the great difference in size; and whenever it joined the flock the others chased it away. I 

 succeeded in killing it, and it is now in the Warsaw Museum. It is a young bird in its first 

 plumage, and agrees precisely with Asiatic specimens." 



As far as we can see, no record has ever been published of this species in North-eastern 

 Africa ; but our collection contains a specimen from Djedda, on the Red Sea, shot by the late 

 Mr. S. Stafford Allen. Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub write : — " Its range extends not only to Eastern 

 Asia and Polynesia, but also to the south of Africa. In the Leyden Museum is an example 

 procured by Verreaux at Lataku. In Southern Africa its range probably inosculates with that of 

 Ch. pluvialis, as it does in Western Siberia. It is not known if Ch. fulvus extends its range to 

 Western Africa; but one would expect, as is stated in the ' System der Ornithol. Westafrica's,' to 

 meet with Ch. pluvialis there. This species can only be looked on as an accidental winter visitor 

 to South Africa." 



It is no doubt the bird called by Pallas C. pluvialis. He says it is rare in the northern 



4n 



