CHARADRIID/I'-. 



543 



THE KENTISH PLOVER. 



^GiALiTis CANTiANA (Latham). 



The Kentish Plover is easily recognizable by its incomplete 

 pectoral band. It arrives on the shores of England in April, and 

 departs, as a rule, in September ; but individuals which were prob- 

 ably migrants from the Continent have been obtained on the east 

 coast in October, Bridlington in Yorkshire being the most northern 

 locality in which they have been noticed. Even in Lincolnshire 

 the species is of rare occurrence, though more frequent in Norfolk 

 and Suffolk ; but on the shingle-beaches of Kent (whence it was first 

 described), as well as in Sussex, it formerly bred in considerable 

 numbers, though collectors have contributed to its decrease. West- 

 ward its appearance is unusual, and only a few specimens are 

 recorded from Devon and Cornwall ; but in the Channel Islands 

 it is not uncommon, especially on Guernsey and the neighbouring 

 islets. To Ireland it is a very rare visitor. 



As a wanderer the Kentish Plover has been recorded on four 

 occasions from the south-west of Norway, and it breeds in the south 

 of Sweden, though it is rare on the Baltic coast of Germany. In 

 Denmark, Holland and Belgium it is fairly numerous, while in 

 France and the Spanish Peninsula it is abundant, both on the sea- 

 shore and on brackish lagoons at some distance inland. It appears 



