RINGED PLOVER. 573 



have purposely refrained from supplying more precise details 

 in the interests of the birds themselves, but fear their existence 

 is a precarious one, for on one of the high fells, where a pair 

 was observed for several days in Jime 1902, it disappeared 

 about the middle of the month, but in its stead were found 

 two empty cartridge cases ! 



The local names are : Land Dotterel and Spring Dotterel, 

 used at Spurn, while at Whitby it is called Moor Dotterel, 



RINGED PLOVER. 



>Egialitis hiaticula (Z.). 



Resident, very local ; is common, and nests in the Tees and Humber 

 districts. Also spring and autumn migrant. Of occasional occurrence 

 inland. 



The first mention of this species in Yorkshire is probably 

 found in the Allan MS. in connection with the Tunstall 

 Museum (1791), thus : — " Sea-Lark — Frequent our shores 

 in summer, but are not numerous. Lays four eggs, of a dull 

 white colour, sparingly sprinkled with black. Disappear 

 on the approach of winter. There is a light-coloured variety 

 in this Museum." (Fox's " Synopsis," p. 90.) 



Thomas Allis, in 1844, wrote : — 



Charadrius hiaticula. — Ringed Plover — Rare near Halifax, also 

 at Sheffield, where only two or three specimens have been obtained. 

 A. Strickland says " A few of these birds may generally be met with 

 on the sands in autumn or winter, generally in pairs, or small numbers, 

 and never in large flocks ; they do not breed here [Bridlington]." 



Essentially a bird of the shingly beach and mud-flats of 

 our tidal estuaries, the Ringed Plover is naturally most 

 abundant on the Tees and Humber shores, and the low-lying 

 coast line adjacent, and in these particular localities only 

 can it be termed resident and common. On the rest of the 

 coast, namely from Saltburn to Bridlington, it is best known 

 as a frequent visitor on the spring and autumn migrations, 



