186 CHARADRIID.E. 



GR A LLA TORES. CHARADRIIDM. 



PLATE CCXXIV. 



LITTLE RING DOTTEREL. 



CHARADRIUS MINOR. 



The Little Ring Dotterel lias only lately been added 

 to the list of British Birds, in consequence of a specimen 

 that was shot at Shoreham in Sussex, but we presume that 

 its great resemblance to the foregoing species has been the 

 cause of its remaining unnoticed, as we have undoubted 

 authority that the bird is frequently met with on the Euro- 

 pean continent, and that its geographical distribution is 

 extensive. 



This species does not appear so far north as the cha- 

 radrius hiaticula : it is known in Sweden, but rare in Hol- 

 land ; ill the south of France, in Italy, and Switzerland it 

 is pretty numerous, as well as in most of the southern 

 countries of Europe, also in Nubia, Abyssinia, and the 

 Philippines ; Temminck has received specimens from Japan. 

 In central Europe the Little Ring Dotterel arrives rarely 

 in March, but more frequently in April, from its warmer 

 winter quarters, and retires again in August and Septem- 

 ber for the winter. 



The migrations are performed in pairs in the spring, and 

 in parties of from five to ten in the autumn, and invariably 



