TWO KINDS OF PLOVER 1 65 



bird, which did not seem perturbed, but sat quietly 

 enough, as though she was holding a kind of reception. 



On the large island, which I have mentioned before, 

 on which the jetty is built, there are masses of sea-grass 

 which have been bleached by the sun, and here some 

 of these White Sand-Plovers showed a striking" example 

 of adaptability to circumstances by nesting on this dead 

 grass. We found in all three separate nests thus 

 placed, and in each case the eggs were laid on the 

 summit of a mass of grass at an elevation of about a 

 foot from the ground, so as to be out of reach of the 

 water at high tide, which at that time often partially 

 flooded the island. The nests were merely depressions 

 in the dead grass, lined with little bits of the same 

 material chopped up very finely ; this must have been 

 done by the birds themselves. The eggs laid in these 

 nests were always of a darker shade than those laid 

 on the white sand, and were a kind of nankin colour, 

 matching the darker portions of the sea-grass. Those 

 laid on the sand were almost white, but all were marked 

 with black specks and dashes. The birds appeared to 

 run with equal facility on the uneven surface of the sea- 

 grass as on the smooth sand, but they too knew the 

 protective value of its colour, and would never run on 

 the o-reen o-rass. 



These little Plovers naturally kept aloof from the 

 flocks of small waders which frequented the shores of 

 this island, for the ground that effectually concealed 

 the latter, would only serve to show up the whereabouts 

 of the former birds. A great proportion of the wading 

 birds to be found on the estuary were only there as 

 visitors ; one exception to this rule being the Kittlitz's 



