GREY PLOVER.
SQUATAROLA HELVETICA.
As far as I have been able to ascertain, this species has never been known to remain and breed on our shores;
and it is only within the last few years that its eggs have been properly authenticated, owing to a discovery
made by Mr. Henry Seebohm and Mr. Harvic-Brown in is""), when they " took ten nests between the 22nd of
June and the 12th of July in the valley of the Petehora, in lat. 68V This information is extracted from
Mr. Secholini's work on British Birds, and the author also states, " It is not known that any authentic egg* of this
interesting bird have been taken during the last ten years." As .Mr. Seobohm's account of findiug the nests and
eggs of tins s|Kfies is exceeding amusing, I offer no apology for making an extract of one portion and inserting
it in ' Hough Notes.' The remarks concerning his repeated unsuccessful shots at the birds, eventually secured,
show how carefully he records the whole of his proceedings, utterly regardless of drawing attention to his
failures and mishaps.
" We had not walked more than a couple of miles inland before we came upon a small party of Plovers.
They were very wild, and we found it impossible to g.i w ithin shot of them ; but a distant view through our
bin oculars almost convinced ns that we bat! met with the Grey Plover at last. We had not walked very far
before other Plovers rose ; and we determined to commence a diligent search for the nest, and offered half a
rouble to any of our men who should lind one. Our interpreter laughed at us, and marched away into tho
tundra with a ' C'est impossible, Monsieur.' Wo appealed to our Sauinyede, w ho stroked his beardless elun,
and cautiously replied 'mozhna' (possible). The other men wandered aimlessly up and down; but the
Sunioyede tramped the ground systematically, and after more than an hour's search found a nest on one of tho
dry lussocky ridges intersecting the bog. containing four eggs about the size and shape of those of the Golden
Plover, but more like those of the Lapwing in colour. The nest was hullow, evidently scratched, |>orfectly
round, somewhat deep, and containing a handful of broken slender twigs and reimtoer-uioss. llarvie-Broivn
concealed himself as well as he could behind a ridge to lie in wail for the bird returning to the nest, nod after
half an hour's watching shot a veritable Grey Plover. Soon afterwards another of our men found a second nest,
also containing four eggs, in exactly a similar situation. llarvie-Brown took this nest also in hand, and in about
an hour succeeded in shooting the female. The third nest was found by tho Samoyede. This time 1 lay down
behind a ridge some thirty yards from the nest, and after wailing a quarter of aa hour caught sight of (he bird
on the lop of a distant tussock. Presently she ran nearer to another ridge, looked round, and then ran on to the
next, until she finally came within fifty yards of where I was lying. 1 had just made up my mind to risk a shot
when sho must have seen me, and flew right away. In a quarter of an hour I caught sight of her again,
approaching by short stages as before, but from an opposite direction. I must have been in full sight of her.
When she had approached within fifty yards of me, as near as 1 could guess, I fired at her with no. \ shot and
missed. I remained reclining where I was, with little hope that she would make a third attempt to approach
the nest, and wbiled away the time with watching a Bull'oa's Skua through my glass as it cautiously approached