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and von Heuglin states that it is found along the shores of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in 

 winter. Daubeny shot it at Arkeko ; and further down on the eastern coast it has been obtained 

 by Dr. John Kirk on the island of Zanzibar. Captain Sperling also remarks that he found it 

 " common at Zanzibar, where he procured young birds in November." Sganzin met with it 

 in Madagascar, and Mr. Edward Newton has included it among the birds of the Seychelles and 

 Mauritius. Mr. Layard in his ' Birds of South Africa,' states : — " I have never seen the Grey 

 Plover in the summer or breeding-plumage in this country ; but many specimens in winter dress 

 have occurred to me both here and on the east coast of Africa, where, as far as 1^° south, I shot 

 it in considerable numbers." Our friend Mr. J. H. Gurney informs us that the Grey Plover is 

 common on the Damara coast, and also occurs in Trans Vaal and Northern Natal. One specimen 

 from Damara Land was in partly breeding-plumage. On the west coast of Africa it has been 

 obtained on the Muni river by Du Chaillu ; and Pel sent home specimens from the Gold Coast 

 which he had shot there in February and December. Verreaux also has received it from 

 Senegambia. 



Reinhardt says that it " occurs in very limited numbers " in Greenland ; and Audubon has 

 noted that he found it breeding in North America. Captain Blakiston writes : — " I fancied this 

 bird was confined to Hudson's Bay, whence I have received a specimen, as well as Mr. Murray ; 

 and one is recorded thence in the ' Fauna Boreali-Americana ;' but I now observe that it has 

 been found by Mr. Boss on the Mackenzie, but it is rare." Professor Baird remarks that, 

 "this almost universally distributed species occurs on the sandy flats of Chiapam, and is usually 

 seen in company with the flocks of Tringce and the like ;" and Dresser in his paper on the 

 ' Birds of Southern Texas ' gives the following note : — " On the 6th of September 1863, at the 

 salt-ponds in the sandy desert between the San Colorado and King's Bancho, I shot one specimen 

 (which was well marked with black), and killed another on Galveston Island on the 26th of May 

 1864; but I skinned neither of them." Mr. G. H. White obtained it in the vicinity of the city 

 of Mexico ; and Mr. Osbert Salvin, writing on the Sea-birds and Waders of the Pacific coast of 

 Guatemala, says, " Grey Plovers were occasionally seen, their unmistakable black axillary 

 feathers enabling one to distinguish the species at a distance." It has also been obtained in the 

 Bahamas by the late Mr. Bryant; and Lieut. Wedderburn obtained it in the Bermudas in 

 September. In Jamaica it likewise occurs, and, according to Gundlach, inhabits Cuba from 

 August to April. Leautaud found it in Trinidad in August and October. 



A very good account of the habits of the Grey Plover has been given by Baron Droste- 

 Hulshoff in his work on the Birds of Borkum : — " It passes here late in May, and again occurs 

 on the southward migration in August and early in September. It is a fine lively bird, and 

 carries its head and body erect, and its breast thrown forward. In running backwards it re- 

 sembles the Golden Plover ; and before flying, like that bird, it always lifts the wings high above 

 its head. Its flight is peculiarly swift, more so than that of most other shore-birds. It flies 

 off in a straight line, now approaching and now leaving the ground in easy dips. It extends 

 the wings far, and flies with powerful strokes. On the wing it appears thick-headed, slight in 

 form and with very pointed wings, and these appear bowed into a sickle-shape. The general 

 colour appears whitish with two black patches, the black axillaries showing very clearly. It has 

 a peculiar appearance ; and an eye but little experienced can easily distinguish it. Its call-note 



