late Arctic Expedition, Major Feilden obtained a female which
had apparently been nesting in lat. 78° 48' N. in Buchanan
Strait, Smith Sound; but birds from other and more western
localities in Arctic America have either been proved, or may
fairly be supposed to be, examples of an allied species,
2E. semipalmata. The ,latter is smaller than our bird, and
has no white patch above and behind the eye,: the pectoral
band is narrower, and the middle and outer toes are united
at their base by a very distinct web. Tracing the, arctic
range of the Ringed Plover eastward, the species is found in
summer along the whole northern line of the Old World
from the North Cape, and TTovaya Zemlya, to4the winter
quarters of the -‘ Vega,” .elpse to Behring’s Straits.'
Throughout - Europe the Ringed plover.,is generally distributed
in suitable localities, becoming rarer in the interior
of compact countries like Russia, and more abundant. in
those which present :a varied coastf line, or large rivers. In
the northern regions it . is a migrant, but in the temperate
portions it is resident, and some of the largest individuals
are to be found amongst those which permanently, inhabit
the British Islands, and the opposite coasts of France -5and
Holland. In the southern portions of .Europe the smaller
race predominates, and to this, in all probability, belong the
birds which are found in Madeira, the? -Canaries*- and
northern Africa, and which range in winter to the southern
extremity of th a t. continent. In, fEgypt,*-. Captain Shelley
obtained none but the smaller individuals* but it?is tolerably
certain that some of the larger race also go. as far as therRed
tllea. In Turkestan it i^^said to breed; -fcpt in China |t
appears to be replaoedgby. JE^placida, ’ Gray, which has • also
occurred in India, and has-been ^corded--.,in-error;--as- our
bird.- A single Specimen of the Ringed Plover was, 'h§wever>
obtained by Dr. Scully at Gilgit,- and one been-recorded by
Mr. Hume from Sultanpur, about-thirty miles south of Delhi.
4Str> Feath. viii. p. 197.). The -late Mr. Gould has statgd that
he possessed an undoubted specimen from Port Stevens, in
Australia.
The male in- summer has the: beak black at thé point,
orange-yellow at the base; theirides brown; forehead white,
with a black band above it reaching to the eyes on each side ;
lore, space under the eyes, and the ear-coverts, black; top of
the head and nape of the neck hair^brown ; below this; and
all round the neck a collar of white, followed, by a gorget of
black; the back, wing-coverts, and tertMs, hair-brown ;„^|he
wing-coverts tipped with white, forming a continuous bar of
that colour, which is conspicuous when, the bird is on the
wing; the primaries almost black, the1 distal portion of each
quill-shaft white; upper taiWoverts and the base of the. tail-
feathers hair-brown, passing into greyish black towards the
end, the middle pair the longest, the next four on each side
tipped with white.; the outer feather on^each side entirely
white in the fully adult, ^ut spotted in others; chinjmd
throat white ; across -the' neck a broad collar- o£ black ;
breast, belly,. vent, and under tail-covert,s, white; under
.wing-coverts and the axillary plume white; Tegs and toes4
orange; the daws black. - - ■
-The whole length of the adult bird is^sewen inches and
three-quarters. „ From the .carpal joint J # the end of the
wing* five'inches and a half: ' the wingS pointed in shape ;
the first quill-feather the -longest.^ | | | \
.Adult, females in summer have the black bands and collar |
•narrower than in the, males* and the.^olojar?. no,t'. qu|te^,so
decided both sexes^in winter haye^thq^black and the white
less pure in colour.. . -
Young ’turds y m tte beak almost M l
black; they have-no black band oyer the white, one on.the
forehead; the l^xe^ear-cpyetfe/ and the collar, round the
llq^er-part of"-the nepk ere qniy-.‘dus^y;brown* legs and toes
.-pale yeil^w.' • - • : ^
Varieties .of this ;speciesr ar-e- common,. but. Mr. JJ.
Bond has on%igic>t, in ;Orkney, which is. nearly, -white ywith
-dusky. markings;, and, Mr.: J. Whitaker,. of Rainworth
-Bodge,- Notts, has qne0witb a stone-buff mang^ ,