KEXriSH PLOVER. 259 



Family CHARADRIID.^. Genus ^gialophilus. 



Sub-family CHARADRIIN^. 



KENTISH SAND PLO V E R. 



^GiALOPHiLUS C.ANTIANUS {Latham). 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May. 



British breeding area : The Kentish Sand Plover 

 is one of the rarest birds that breed in the British Islands, 

 and one that will probably soon be utterly exterminated 

 as a nesting species, if the greed of collectors is to be 

 allowed to go on unchecked. Its only nesting-places are 

 on certain parts of the coasts of Kent and Sussex. 



Breeding habits : The Kentish Sand Plover is a 

 summer migrant to our islands, arriving towards the end 

 of April or early in May. It is a salt-water species, and 

 frequents sandy beaches intermingled with stretches of 

 shingle during the season of reproduction. It is by no 

 means an unsocial bird, and may be seen in small parties 

 all through the summer, several pairs frequently nesting 

 within a small area of favourable coast. It is not im- 

 probable that this species pairs for life, as every year the 

 same favourite spots for nesting are tenanted, and the 

 young and old of a family keep much together during 

 autumn. The Kentish Sand Plover makes no nest, 

 merely laying its eggs in a little hollow amongst the 

 sand or shingle, or on a drift of dry sea-weed and other 

 ocean refuse. The bird sits lightly, leaving its eggs 

 at the least alarm to that safety their protective tints 

 ensure ; sometimes feigning lameness, especially if the 

 eggs be near maturity. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Kentish Sand Plover are usually three, 

 but frequently four in number. They range from light 



