528 KENTISH PLOVER. 



appears to be resident in the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and 

 throughout the basin of the Mediteranean ; while in winter it has 

 been found in Africa as far south as Cape Colony. In summer it 

 frequents the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas, as well as the salt lakes 

 of Turkestan, Daiiria and Mongolia, migrating in the cold weather 

 to Japan, China, the Malay Peninsula, Burma and India ; there 

 are, however, several closely-allied species in the south and east of 

 the Old World which cause difficulty in defining its winter-range 

 with accuracy. In America the representative is jS. nivosa, which 

 has white — and not black — lores when in breeding-plumage. 



Towards the end of May, in warm seasons, the eggs are laid in 

 a small hollow in the sand, or among fine shingle and broken shells, 

 often in a -nearly upright position, the points being buried and 

 the thick ends just showing above the loose soil. They seldom 

 exceed 3 in number — though I have found 4 in Spain and also in 

 the Channel Islands — and are rough in texture, and of a yellowish 

 stone-colour, spotted and characteristically scraiuled with black : 

 average measurements i'2 by "9 in. Mr. H. A. Dombrain says that 

 occasionally they are deposited on a heap of sea-weed thrown up 

 by a very high tide. If disturbed when sitting, the bird will run a 

 few yards, fly a little, then drop and run again, uttering a plaintive 

 note ; but when the young are hatched it sweeps closely round, 

 accompanying each stroke of the. wing by a sharp whistle, then 

 dropping suddenly and cowering with expanded wings and tail. 

 The food is similar to that of the Ringed Plover. 



The adult male in spring has the forehead and a broad line above 

 each eye white \ lores and a stripe behind the eye black ; fore- 

 crown black ; top of the head and nape reddish-brown ; neck — all 

 round — and the entire under parts, white ; on each side of the 

 neck a black patch which is not continued to the breast; upper parts 

 — including the three central pairs of tail-feathers — hair-brown with 

 darker shafts ; outer tail-feathers white ; bill, legs and feet black. 

 Length nearly 7 in. ; wing 4*25 in. The female has no black on 

 the fore-crown, her neck-patches are brown instead of black, and 

 her colours are less bright. The young resemble the female, while 

 the downy nestlings are more rufous than those of the Ringed 

 Plover. The illustration represents an adult male in summer, and a 

 young bird in autumn plumage. 



