THE SAND-PLOVERS. 
165 
moments. It is rather more shy than its larger ally, and tahes 
wing more readily. In its flight it is very similar to the Ringed 
Sand-Plover, but its notes are very different from that of its near 
allies. Its ordinary call-note is a loud, clear, plaintive, and 
monotonous almost lengthened into two syllables. When 
alarmed the note is pronounced much shorter, and repeated 
more rapidly ; and in spring it is uttered still more ra.pidly so 
as to become continuous, especially at the close of its love- 
song, when it becomes a trill.* 
Mr. Dixon says that, in Algeria, he has seen the male soaring 
into the air like a lark, and flying about for a considerable 
time, uttering his peculiar love-song, soaring higher and 
higher above the sandy wastes, and then gradually descending 
again. 
Nest. — None, being merely a little cavity in the sand, with a 
slight lining. Mr. Robert Read writes to me: “Although 
the species breeds sparingly in Sweden, I was fortunate 
enough to discover two nests there in June, 1894. Both were 
in small patches of shingle on islands in a large fresh-water 
lake. In the first case the bird flew off as our boat ap- 
proached the island, and I found the nest with four fresh eggs. 
In the second instance I saw the bird running off just as the 
boat touched the shore, and I found the nest with four eggs 
about a week incubated. In both cases the slight hollows in 
the shingle, which did duly for nests, were lined with dried 
grass, sticks, and stalks, which is very unusual with jS. 
hiaiicola. The latter, when an intruder is in the vicinity 
of its nest, usually keeps not far off, uttering a monotonous, 
plaintive whistle ; but in neither of the above instances did 
I hear any note of the birds after they left the nest.” 
Eggs. — Four in number, pear-shaped, and laid point to 
point. The ground-colour is clay-buff to a sort of greenish- 
grey. The blackish markings are similar in character to those of 
hiaticola, and the underlying spots are just as indistinct. 
The size of the egg is considerably smaller than that of the 
eggs of the Ringed Sand-Plover. Axis, i'i-i'25 inch ; diam., 
o'S-o-p. 
* Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. pp. 17, 18. 
