LITTLE RINGED PLOVER. 121 



In the young birds the black patch above the forehead is wanting, and what is black in 

 the adult is of a browner tint in the young bird. The bill, legs, feet, and claws, black. 

 The length is about seven inches. 



LITTLE RINGED PLOVER— Little Ring Dotterel, (Charadrius minor, Meyer.) 



As a British Bird this is one of our rarest species, but one solitary specimen having 

 been, with certainty, procured. Never having seen the bird, we quote from Gould, as 

 given in the last edition of "Yarrell's British Birds." "We are indebted to our friend, 

 Mr. Henry Doubleday, of Epping, for the loan of an example of this elegant little Plover, 

 which he informs us was taken at Shoreham, in Siissex. From the extreme youth of the 

 specimen transmitted to us, it is clear that it must have been bred on the spot; and 

 it is worthy of notice that the person who killed it, affirms that he has long suspected 

 the present bird to be a resident on that part of the coast, from having remarked that 

 he could always perceive a difference in the note of this bird from that of either of the 

 other species. Whether this Plover habitually resorts to our shores or not, it may now 

 reasonably claim a place in the Fauna of our Island." Mr. Yarrell further states that 

 the Rev. R. Lubbock, in his recently-published "Fauna of Norfolk," says that "two 

 specimens of this bird in the Norwich Museum, were believed by Mr. Denny, the Curator, 

 to have been killed in the county; but the fact was not noted down at the time." 



It has not been recognised in either Scotland or Ireland. 



On the continent it is said to be not uncommon; but it is not so northern in its 

 range as the Ring Dotterel ; it however occurs in Sweden, Holland, the south of France, 

 and Italy. In Asia it is said to occur in Nepal, about Calcutta, and in Japan. 



It would seem that it migrates from the warmer latitudes to temperate countries for 

 the purpose of incubation; returning again southwards when that is completed. 



Its habits seem to be very much like those of the Common Ringed Plover, except 

 that it is more frequently found on the sides of rivers than its congener; appearing to 

 prefer them to the sea-shore. Its food is also similar. 



Its nest, which is frequently placed on some of the sandy islands found in the larger 

 continental rivers, is, according to Meyer, "a perfect rounded cavity in the ground, or 

 layer of small stones;" and is generally placed "where the smallest particles of gravel 

 cover the surface of the ground, but never on the fine sand." Yarrell, on the authority 

 of Mr. Hoy, states that "it lays its eggs on the sands; not a particle of grass or other 

 material being used." 



The eggs are said to be four in number, of a pale yellowish stone-coloured ground, 

 with numerous small three-coloured spots, namely, "bluish ash, red brown, and dark brown." 



