Tlie Plovers. 



169 



The Kill-Deer Dottrel. 



The Sociable Lapwing. 



more than half the length of 



the wings. The Kill-Deer 



Dottrel, so called from its note, 



is an inhabitant of North 



America, and is said to have 



been twice obtained in I^ngland. 



It is recognised at once by the 



cinnamon-rufous colour of the 



lower back, rump and upper 



tail-coverts. The nest is a 



depression in the ground, lined 



with grass, and the eggs are 



four in number, brownish or 



cream-colour, with numerous spots of blackish-brown ; their length is about an inch- 



and-a-half. 



The true Sand-Plovers resemble the foregoing species, but 

 have a shorter and less conspicuous tail. The Common Ringed 

 Plover has a black collar across the fore-neck, brown in young 

 birds, a white forehead, followed by a black band across the 



head, and black ear-coverts. It is found on all the coasts of Great Britain, and breeds 



everywhere, being also occasionally noticed on inland waters, though here principally 



on migration. It nests throughout Europe on the shores and inland lakes as far as 



Central Asia, and is found in the far north on Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen. The 



bird is very wary, and is difficult of approach in the autumn, when it consorts with 



Dunlins and other shore birds and leads them out of danger. Both parents sham 



to be wounded, when the nest is approached, in order to draw the intruder away from 



their eggs or young. The eggs are pear-shaped, and are laid in a little hollow in 



THE RINGED 



SAND-PLOVER. 



{.Egialitis hiaticula.) 



The Kentish Sand-Plover. 

 The Little Ringed Sand-Plover. 



The Ringed Sand-Plover. 



