RINGED PLOVER. 187 



too, will Stand solitary, resting, but not asleep, when waiting for 

 the tide to turn, and not pack with other waders. 



The majority of the autumn birds come in September and 

 October, but many arrive towards the end of August and some 

 even in "July. August birds are often in breeding dress; 

 indeed, I have seen one with a very black breast early in 

 October. Most of the September immigrants are immature, 

 and the adults in winter dress soon follow. The bulk of the 

 visitors move south, but a fair proportion winter, and from 

 March until the middle of May, and exceptionally until early 

 June, parties are constantly passing. 



The full breeding dress is striking. The upper parts are 

 chequered brownish black and greyish white, the under parts 

 to the lower breast are deep black. The colour pattern is as 

 in the Golden Plover, but the white band separating the 

 extremes is broader ; indeed, the bird is altogether whiter, for 

 the forehead is white, and the streak wide above the eye and 

 wider still where it margins the breast. The abdomen, as well 

 as the under tail-coverts, is white, and there is a good deal of 

 white on the quills and wing-coverts. The black is lost in 

 winter, and the upper parts are browner, whilst the sides of the 

 face, neck, and breast are streaked and mottled on a pale ashy 

 brown ground. Young birds have much pale yellow on the 

 upper parts, and the top of the head is browner ; the under 

 parts are streaked with brown. The axillaries, though dusky 

 brown, are still distinctive. The bill is black, the legs blue- 

 grey, and the irides dark brown. Length, 11 ins. Wing, 8 ins. 

 Tarsus, I'g ins. 



Ringed Plover, ^gialitis hiatiaila (Linn.). 



That there are two races, large and small, of the Ringed 

 Plover, and that both appear on our coasts, is well known, but 

 the actual range of the two forms is not worked out, and they 



