OOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 507 
it is not easy to pick one up and yet preserve its form. ‘The eggs, 
three in number, just fill the nest; somewhat oval in shape; in length 
one inch nine lines, with a breadth of one inch three lines; they are 
of a delicate soft-toned brown suffused with dark brown—almost black— 
marks, and might readily be mistaken for those of Hematopus, to 
which they bear a very close resemblance. It will be observed that 
in some clutches the ground colour of the eggs is.of a lighter hue. I 
have a specimen that is of a greenish-brown tint, but in all examples 
that I have seen the markings have a very similar appearance in 
shape and colour. It has been noticed before that the nest of this 
plover on one occasion was made use of by the common tern. The 
young leave the nest almost immediately after hatching, hence there 
is no necessity for an elaborate structure to keep them snug and 
warm; they have to follow and feed upon the insect life that 
surrounds them; and the instinct of the parents is admirably shown 
in the choice it makes for the nursery of its offspring. How speedily 
the young course over the ground, threading their way among 
tussocks with surprising celerity; they are adepts in the art of con- 
cealment, and with the advantage of the least cover, hide themselves 
completely. They accompany the parent-birds on their rambles in 
the food search, and adopt precautions for safety on the first warning 
of the old ones. In the presence of danger, the tactics of the plover 
for preserving its nest or young are indeed wonderfully artful; no 
description can do adequate justice to their shifts and contrivances 
for misleading the intrusive observer. Swift runs, short flights hither 
and thither, with the click, clicking call resounded again and again, 
often effectually puzzle and lead astray the disappointed collector. 
Oct. 31, 1856, nest on the Woolshed flat, Rakaia. 
Oct. 22, nest with three eggs. 
— Oct. 22, young plovers seen. 
Some of the earlier bred birds reach the coast in January, as I have 
seen old and young birds on the flats at the head of Port Cooper on 
January 19th. In the Upper Ashburton district this plover appears 
in abundance in the breeding season round Lake Heron. I have a 
note of the eggs having been found on EBrowning’s Pass. 
62. Charadrius bicinctus, Jard. and Selb. 
Dottrel.—_One of the earlier breeders, whether on the tussock-clad 
plains or on river-bed spits and flats; on these latter, it often selects 
a dense patch of Raoulia for a nesting-place. The coarse moss-like 
erowth of this dwarf plant is commonly met with on some of the 
older formed spits or terraces in many of the river-beds. Sometimes 
the mottled eggs may be discovered on the bare sand, just screened 
perhaps by an uprooted tussock or other waif that has been washed 
down stream and stranded on the stony flat. It is gratifying to be 
able to record that it appears to be one of the more fortunate species 
that is not much disturbed by settlement; of late it has been observed 
to breed on farms, in some instances in the immediate neighbourhood 
of homesteads. Last season there were several nests on cultivated 
fields about Westerfield; a homestead in any farming district, however 
rural or quiet, must have much traffic to and fro calculated to scare 
ground birds; the driving of sheep or cattle, and the barking of dogs, 
might seem sufficient to prevent any of the plovers from attempting 
