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pearing about the middle of March ; and Dr. Kriiper states that it is a resident in Greece and 

 Asia Minor, and numbers breed on the lagoons of Missolonghi and those near Smyrna. It has 

 eggs late in April or early in May. Dr. Kriiper is uncertain if it remains there over the entire 

 winter. In Southern Germany it is of very rare, almost doubtful, occurrence ; and Dr. A. Fritsch 

 states that its occurrence in Bohemia rests solely on one specimen in the Museum at Prague, 

 which is stated to have been obtained in Bohemia. Messrs. Danforcl and Harvie-Brown write 

 (Ibis, 1875, p. 419) that it is rare in Transylvania. It is said to have been found breeding in 

 the country. Herr Csato says it rarely flies over from the plains of the Maros into the valley of 

 the Strell. Messrs. Elwes and Buckley speak of it as being very common on the Bulgarian coast. 

 I have examined specimens obtained near Constantinople by Mr. Robson ; and Professor von 

 Nordmann states that in Southern Russia it is the most abundant of the family from March to 

 November. As above stated, Dr. Kriiper says that it is common and resident on the coasts of 

 Asia Minor; and Canon Tristram writes (Ibis, 1868, p. 323) that it breeds in several places in 

 Palestine. In North Africa it is common ; and Captain Shelley writes (B. of Egypt, p. 240) that 

 it is " abundant both in Egypt and Nubia, frequenting the sandy flats near water, and is appa- 

 rently a sociable bird, as it is always met with in flocks. Owing to the assimilation of their 

 plumage to the ground they frequent, they are difficult to distinguish, and their presence is often 

 first made known by the sudden rising of a flock from a spot in the immediate vicinity." Von 

 Heuglin records it from the Nile, where, he says, it is found now and then in the winter ; but he 

 met with it more commonly in the summer on the Red Sea, and in September and October in 

 the Gulf of Aden. All the authors on the ornithology of Algeria record it as common in that 

 portion of Africa. Mr. O. Salvin says (Ibis, 1859, p. 355) that it occurs in abundanee along the 

 shores of the large lagoon of El Baheira, between Tunis and La Goletta, and he found it breeding 

 on the borders of most of the salt lakes in the interior. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., met with it at 

 Laghouat; and Canon Tristram writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 78) as follows: — " One of the most univer- 

 sally distributed denizens of the Sahara, this species is to be found running rapidly along the 

 sand by all the chotts and sebkhas in parties of from two to eight. It breeds everywhere, but, 

 unlike our Ring-Plover, appears to lay only three eggs, which are placed on the level sand, 

 without the precaution of even selecting the impress of a camel's foot." Favier speaks of it 

 {fide Irby, I. c.) as being " very abundant near Tangier, and generally found at the mouths of 

 rivers. Many are resident, those which are migratory arriving during September and October, 

 leaving northwards in March and April." Southward it has been met with in Africa as far as 

 the Cape colony. Mr. Andersson says (B. of Damara L. p. 272) that it is rare in Damara Land, 

 where it occurs almost solely on the sea-coasts; and Mr. E. L. Layard writes (B. of S. Afr. 

 p. 296) that there is a specimen in the South-African Museum, which came from a collection 

 made by the late Mr. Villet at the Knysna. It likewise occurs in the Canaries, Madeira, and 

 the Azores. According to Dr. C. Bolle, it is not only a winter visitant but a resident in Canaria 

 in places where the coast is sandy, and certainly breeds there ; and Mr. F. DuCane Godman (Nat. 

 Hist. Azores, p. 32) writes as follows: — "I met with a few of these birds about the lakes in St. 

 Michael's, but afterwards found them more plentiful about Capellas, in Fayal, and on the high 

 ground between Angra and Praya, in Terceira. It breeds in Terceira, as I saw several young 

 birds about, which were unable to fly." 



