46 



is a sharp whistle, Tlj-e-ih, which cannot be mistaken for the Tliii of the Golden Plover ; the final 

 note is very softly sounded. On the wing they repeat this note with long pauses ; and sitting 

 they call to each other and repeat the latter portion when any of their own species settle down 

 beside them. At sunset they are most uneasy, and fly about, calling continually, late into the 

 night. They repeat the call-note so quickly that it becomes a regular 'jodel' call; and when a 

 couple quarreled, they called loudly Tljii Tljii. It is a very watchful and shy bird, and carefully 

 avoids every suspicious-looking mound, seldom approaching a place where the sportsman is hid ; 

 it is therefore the sentinel of other shore-birds, which it warns by its sudden flight and loud 

 alarm-note ; and its fondness of company renders it their leader. . ." . . In the autumn it frequents 

 the shores only, going on to the grass when driven thither by high tides ; but, peculiarly enough, 

 in the spring it frequents the water-meadows and seldom visits the shore. I did not, however* 

 see any by the fresh water ; but they generally lived on places far from water, scarcely damp, and 

 covered with short grass. Late in the year it is also found on the muddy shores of the rivulets 

 far out on the shore at ebb-tide, on flat places where numerous shore-worms are found, and picks 

 up small worms here, picking about amongst the sea-herbage. It also picks out the shore-worms. 

 On the edge of the water it seeks its food in the foam, and, like the Sandpipers, wades up to its 

 belly in the water." 



Lord Lilford, in his well-known essay on the ornithology of Corfu and Epirus, notices the 

 following remarkable fact in connexion with the present species : — " This bird has a curious 

 habit which I do not recollect to have seen mentioned in any work on ornithology, of throwing 

 somersaults in the air, in the same manner as the Tumbler Pigeon and Roller. I noticed this 

 particularly in March 1857, on the Gulf of Arta, about the mouth of the Luro river, where a few 

 of this species are generally to be seen." 



The egg of the Grey Plover was for a long time a desideratum in the best European collec- 

 tions ; and even now authentic specimens are exceedingly rare. We therefore make no apology 

 for giving all the observations published on the breeding of the bird, which we have met with. 

 Von Middendorff, to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of the bird's nesting-habits, gives 

 the following account : — " Earlier than the 25th of May none of these birds were observed on 

 the Boganida, and on the 26 th of June the females were sitting there on their nests, which were 

 formed by collecting together dry leaves and grasses, and in which were four eggs. As nothing 

 reliable is known about these latter, and I have in vain looked for an illustration of them in 

 Thienemann's new work, I give the following particulars respecting them. In form the eggs of 

 the Grey Plover agree with those of the Lapwing (Vanellus cristatus) and the Dotterel (Chara- 

 drius morinellus), but are larger than either, though in this respect the eggs of this bird differ 

 considerably. The average size is about 54 millims. in length by 36 millims. in largest diameter. 

 The largest eggs I have seen were about 2 millims. longer ; on the other hand, the smallest were 

 48 millims. long by 36 millims. in diameter. Sometimes the smallest eggs of the Grey Plover 

 are exceeded in length by those of the Golden Plover ; but the latter are invariably narrower, not 

 exceeding 33 millims. in breadth ; nor does the colour offer any distinctive mark. The ground- 

 colour is sometimes yellowish grey, sometimes brownish yellow ; and the dark brown spots are 

 distributed on the egg as on the eggs of the Golden Plover. 



" The females which I saw had, even in the fullest summer plumage, an irregular white stripe 



