IQO THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



collected. The bird is an 'anxious and fussy parent, often 

 betraying the presence of eggs or young by its persistent 

 plaintive pipe ; the sitting bird slips from the nest at the first 

 hint of danger, runs with head low, and joins its mate at the 

 water's edge. The young in grey and sandy down has a broad 

 white collar and a black band above its white nape, but as it 

 crouches, an expert at " freezing," the drawn back head hides 

 these marks (Plate 79) ; its olive legs are hidden, but the 

 bright black eye is open. If handled it will at first remain 

 still, but if it feebly pipes the old birds become wild with 

 excitement, and after flying round will fall and tumble with 

 assimilated disablement. The nestling, if placed on the 

 ground, runs on unsteady legs, falling often, holding its wing- 

 stumps uplifted ; suddenly it vanishes, having crouched once 

 more. One brood that I watched would crouch at once when 

 on the shingle at high tide, but on the mud, where stones were 

 freely scattered, they ran for safety, swam the tide pools round 

 the stones, and hid, often in the water, amongst the weeds. 

 When the parent thought the coast was clear it would alter 

 the note, and at once the young appeared and ran to it. The 

 three or four yellowish, brown -spotted eggs (Plate 57) are only 

 conspicuous when laid on grass, but more usual surroundings 

 are sand or shingle. 



The general colour of the upper parts of the adult bird is 

 mouse-grey to drab, of the under parts white. A black band 

 passes through the eye, and another crosses the top of the 

 head, framing the white forehead ; below a white collar is 

 a black gorget, deepest in front. A white streak above the eye 

 and a white wing bar are conspicuous. The bill is orange at 

 the base, blackish at the tip, the legs are chrome-yellow, and 

 the irides practically black. The young bird is hair-grey, and 

 the brown gorget is incomplete in front ; the face stripe is 

 brown, and the band across the crown absent. The bill is 

 black, lighter at the base, and the legs are brownish yellow, 



