262 BIRDS. 



races, a larger and a smaller, the latter being for the most 

 part visitors on migration only. I know of a number of 

 Kinged patches on the coasts of Sussex and Hampshire 

 Plover, where the birds' eggs are to be found regularly 

 every spring, and, curiously enough, they seem to know 

 instinctively how hard the eggs are to pick out from among 

 the surrounding stones, for, unlike many other ground- 

 breeding birds, I have noticed them show but little anxiety 

 when I was close upon the eggs. The latter lie with their 

 points to the centre. The black collar and breastplate 

 scarcely distinguish the bird from some of its relatives, 

 which also affect these ornaments, but there is a conspicu- 

 ous white stripe hehind the eye, which should serve the 

 purjDOse. The note of the bird is as shrill as that of 

 most of the group, but a softer note is heard from the 

 male during his courtship. The bird feeds on crustaceans 

 (being very partial to sand-hoppers) and molluscs. Eggs, 4 

 (pear-shaped), if inch ; grey, with black spots. 



The Little Ringed Plover, distinct from the smaller 

 race of the last-named bird, is a very rare straggler from 

 the south, having occurred not more than half-a-dozen 

 times. 



The Kentish Plover is a regular visitor to England and a 

 rare one to Ireland, nor does it occur so far north as Scot- 

 * Kentish land. The black band on the chest is distinc- 

 Plover. |;jv3 jjj ^jjQ case of this bird, as its continuity 

 is broken in the centre, and it therefore resolves itself 

 into a patch on either side. The behaviour of this plover 

 is very different from that recorded above of the ringed 

 plover. It manifests the greatest anxiety when any one 

 approaches the eggs or young, performing all the more 

 commonly recorded tricks of the male lapwing, though 

 much of this distress is unnecessary, for its treasures are 

 fully as difficult to find. Nevertheless, collectors have 

 played the mischief with the eggs of this once plentiful 

 bird. They are often, though not invariably, placed with 



