Grey Plover 

 GREY PLOVER 



Squatarola helvetica (Linnaeus) 



Very similar to the Golden Plover in general appearance, 

 but the yellow spots are replaced by whitish, and the hind 

 toe is lacking. A few weeks in spring and autumn along the 

 shore is all the time this bird spends with us ; he passes the 

 winter in the warm tropics of Africa, wandering southwards 

 as far as the Cape, and then, obeying some mysterious impulse 

 of which we can form no conception, he journeys in May 

 northwards, and passing over many spots, which would to 

 our ignorant eyes afford him food and shelter sufficient for 

 the rearing of his young, he seeks out the wild and lonely 

 tundras of Europe and Siberia. 



There during the eternal day of an Arctic summer he 

 rears his family, and as soon as they can fly, old and young 

 are back again on our shores. For some weeks they remain, 

 slowly passing to the south, and, unlike the Golden Plover, 

 rarely coming inland ; but by the middle of October they are 

 all back enjoying once more the burning sun of the tropics. 



The white tail coverts and absence of the hind toe will 

 prevent any confusion between this species and the Golden 

 Plover. Length 11 '5 in.; wing 7 '7 5 in. 



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