20 Mr. J. D. D. La Touche on the [Ibis, 
and in 1915 a number of eggs were brought to me by my 
collector, who had taken them on the stony beaches of the 
Shanhaikuan River (Shili Ho) in April and May. On the 
2nd of May of that year, I went out to search for the eggs 
myself with the collector, and during the course of a day’s 
hunt saw a number of empty nests. One containing four 
eggs was found. The old bird sneaked away at once, but 
on our lying down a few yards from the nest, it was soon 
seen running cautiously among the stones and it settled 
down again on the eggs. An attempt to photograph the 
bird on its nest having failed, I took the eggs, which were 
incubated, but not too far advanced to preserve. This nest, 
like all the others seen that day, was a rounded depression 
among the shingle and had a thin lining of scraps of twigs 
or grass. The nests were placed among the stones some 
distance from the water. The birds lay from about the 
middle of April to the first week in May. There are four 
eggs in a clutch. These vary in shape from an ovate with 
a much pointed apex to a pyriform shape, occasionally 
much pinched in at the apex. There is a moderate gloss. 
The ground-colour is a pale greyish green, sometimes a dull 
reddish clay. The eggs are finely speckled with light or 
dark reddish brown and lilac. The latter colour is on the 
surface as well as within the shell. The speckling is often 
thicker on the large end, but few have it so dense as to 
form a cap. Thirty eggs average T41 x 1*04 in., and 
measure from 1*37 to 1*51 in. in length and from 0*99 x 
1*07 in breadth. The plate in ‘The Ibis' represents a very 
dull and red type which only a few of my specimens 
resemble. 
215. JSgialitis dubia (Scop.), 
A Egialitis duhius H. & O. p. 429. 
JEgialitis minor La T. p. 580. 
The Lesser Ringed Plover arrives early in April and is 
common during that month in the marshes. It breeds 
commonly on the stony reaches of the Shih Ho, from which 
