122 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



as big as a No. 10 shot. The eggs are pyriform in shape, and vary 

 in length from 155 to 1'3 inch, and in breadth from 1*05 to 0'98 

 inch, the larger dimensions being those of British examples. 



THE KENTISH PLOVEE. 

 (Charadrius cantianus.) * 



Plate 40, Figs. 4, 6. 



This is one of the most local of British birds, and has only 

 occurred, more or less sparingly, on the south and east coasts of 

 England, as far north as Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, and 

 as far west as Cornwall. Its only breeding-places in this country 

 appear to be on the coasts of Kent and Sussex. So far as is 

 known, the Kentish Plover only nests on the margins of salt-lakes 

 or on the sea-shore ; nevertheless its breeding-range extends from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



The nest is very simple, a little hollow scratched in the sand or 

 amongst the shingle. This hole seldom or never contains any 

 lining material, and the eggs are laid on the bare sand. Some- 

 times a site is selected amongst the drifted seaweed, above the 

 usual high-water mark. 



The eggs are three or four in number, and from the great 

 resemblance they bear to the colour of surrounding objects they 

 are difficult to find. They vary from light to dark buff in ground 

 colour, and are spotted, scratched, and blotched with blackish- 

 brown, and with underlying markings of inky-grey. Some eggs 

 are much more richly coloured than others ; some have the mark- 

 ings composed of blotches and spots, others of streaks, specks, and 

 scratches. They vary in length from 135 to 115 inch, and in 

 breadth from - 95 to 0'85 inch. 



THE ASIATIC PLOVEE. 



{Charadrius asiaticus.) t 



An adult male of this eastern Plover was shot in May, 1890, 

 near Yarmouth. It breeds in the basins of the Caspian and Aral 



* JEgialitis cantianus (Lath.)— Saunders, Manual, p. 5*27. JE. alexandrina (L.) — 



Sharpe, Handb., III., p. 16G. 



f Octhodromus asiaticus — Sharpe, Handb., III., p. 150. 



