KENTISH PLOVER. I9I 



but always light enough to distinguish it at any age from 

 the Kentish Plover. Length, 775 ins. Wing, 5*25 ins. Tarsus, 

 I in. 



Kentish Plover, ^gialitls akxandrlna (Linn.). 



The Kentish Plover (Plate 78) is a summer visitor with a 

 very restricted English breeding range, this being a portion of 

 the Kent and Sussex coast ; elsewhere in England, Ireland, 

 and Wales it is only a very rare visitor on passage, but has 

 occurred as far north as Durham. In Europe it nests from 

 the south of Sweden to the Mediterranean, and in parts of 

 Africa and Asia, migrating south in autumn. 



Protection was just in time to save the Kentish Plover ; it 

 nearly came too late. As Dr. N. F. Ticehurst points out, the 

 shooting of birds during the breeding season, which apparently 

 goes on unchecked, has done more damage than egg-collecting, 

 ruthless though this is away from specially watched areas. 

 The bird, which normally nests in May, has been found sitting 

 in August, its earlier efforts having failed. The demand for 

 British-killed birds and British-taken eggs always exceeds the 

 supply. The Kentish is smaller than the Ringed Plover, and 

 may be distinguished by its incomplete pectoral band and its 

 black bill and legs. The bird, especially the female, looks more 

 sandy than the Ringed Plover ; there is, too,, something dis- 

 tinctive in the flight. Young Ringed Plovers often have the 

 dark band interrupted on the breast, but their legs are always 

 yellowish. The female Kentish is a browner bird than the male, 

 the black patch on the lower neck being noticeably brown ; 

 indeed, on a bird I watched at close quarters it looked but 

 slightly darker than the mantle, and no darker than the patch 

 at the angle of the wing. The habits and food differ little from 

 those of the last species ; the note is shriller and more "flute- 

 like/' a plaintive whistle when alarmed. The birds arrive as 



