ALGIALITIS MINOR.
Little Ringed Plover.

Charadrius minor, Meyer, Taschenb. Deutschl. Vog., tom. ii. Pp 824.
fluviatilis, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. iv. pe A422
curonicus, Beseke, Vog. Kurl., p. 66.
hiaticula, Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., tom. ii. pa tae
mtermedius, Ménét. Catal., pe oie
Aigiahtis furiatilis, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., p- 549.
Aigialites curonicus, Keys. et Blas. Wirbelth. Bese a 7k

minor, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 558.

 

 

Ir appears to me to be quite impossible to determine with any degree of cert

ainty what is the correct synonymy
of this little Plover, and, consequently, which of the v

arious specific appellations that have been assigned
to it should be retained. ‘Temminck, Vieillot, De Selys-Longchamps, Boie, Bailly, Yarrell, and other authors
adopt that of mznor, applied to it by Meyer, while Keyserling and Blasius, Blyth, and G. R. Gray regard the
bird as identical with the curonicus of Beseke, and therefore employ that name on the score of priority. By
Bechstein and Brehm it is termed fluviatilis s and it may possibly be the zntermedius of Ménétriés. The sub-
ject being thus involved in confusion, I have considered it best to employ the term minor, by which the bird
is most generally known.

In the British Islands the Little Ringed Plover is but seldom seen, and must be regarded as a merely
accidental visitor during its periodical migrations, nearly every instance of its occurrence having taken place
in spring and autumn. On the continent of Europe it is numerous, and there, as well as in India and China,
it is a regular migrant. From the vast powers of flight possessed by all the Plovers, we must not be sur-
prised at learning that it is also found in Africa, being plentiful on the Nile and in the provinces of Algeria
and Constantine. At this moment I have not only English specimens before me, but others from Germany,
some from Egypt (kindly forwarded to me by Edgar Larking, Esq.), from India (sent by the late Lieut. R. C.
Beavan), and also from China. It will be seen, therefore, that our Little Ringed Plover enjoys a most
extensive range. Many of the habits of this species resemble those of the common 4. Aiaticula ; but it differs
in appearance when on the wing. Although frequently found on the shingly beaches of the coast, it is on
the whole less maritime than its congener ; for it rather affects the sides of inland waters, ponds, and reser-
voirs, and frequently ascends high up those rivers which rise far in the interior of the country, whether
it be in Europe or India, in which latter country it is frequently seen on the sides of the numerous great
tanks.

With the exception of Britain, the Little Ring-Dotterel breeds in all the countries above mentioned, depo-
siting its four freckled eggs either on the bare shingle or among the scanty herbage growing in the situations
it affects.

Mr. Harting tells me that, when on the wing, this species may be readily distinguished from the common
one by the absence of white from the basal portions of the secondaries—a circumstance which renders it
less conspicuous and more like the ordinary Sandpiper, Zringa hypoleuca. Little difference is observable
in the size or colouring of the sexes; but I observe that one of the specimens forwarded to me by Mr. Lar-
king, a female, has the bands on the crown and the crescentic mark on the chest but faintly indicated, and
of a brown hue, instead of black.

The following notes were taken from a specimen sent to me in the flesh by Mr. Harting, by whom it had
been killed at Kingsbury Reservoir, near Hendon, in Middlesex, on the 30th of August 1864. Several of the
common species were on the side of the reservoir at the same time; and Mr. Harting observed that its note was
not a double whistle like the note of that bird, but was similar to that of the Common Sandpiper. The thick
and fleshy ring round the eye was of a bright straw-yellow; the bill black, with a tinge of fleshy yellow at
the base of the under mandible; the eyes black, full, and round ; the outer tail-feathers, instead of being
wholly white (as is generally the case in the ordinary species), had a dusky spot on their inner webs ; the pri-
maries are of a uniform blackish brown, with the exception of the shaft of the outer one, which is white ;
while in the larger species the shafts of all the primaries are white. :

The weight of this specimen, a young male bird of the year in capital condition, was 11 0z. and 65 grains,
while that of a female of the Common Ring-Dotterel shot the same day was 2z oz.

I have stated in general terms that this bird enjoys a most extensive range; but it may be as well, per-