26 BRITISH BIRDS. 



our bird in having a longer and stouter bill and pale legs. The other 

 allied species {C. nivosus) is found in California and on the coasts of South 

 America, and has the small bill of C. cantianus with the pale legs of 

 C. peronii. It is very doubtful whether either of these birds are more 

 than subspecifically distinct from the Kentish Plover. 



The Kentish Plover is a summer visitor to England, generally arriving 

 about the end of April or early in INIay, leaving for the south again in 

 August or the beginning of September. A straggler is now and then 

 seen even in winter, leading to the supposition that a few may be resident 

 on our coasts, as many certainly are in the Channel Islands. In its 

 habits it differs but little from the Ringed Plover. Like that species it 

 loves to frequent a sandy beach, especially selecting those spots which are 

 strewn with shingle ; but it is rarely or ever found far away from salt 

 water. 



Like the other Ringed Plovers this bird is not at all shy at its breeding- 

 quarters, and will often allow the observer to approach it within a few 

 yards as it runs restlessly along the sand or stands motionless on the 

 shingle. It searches for its food close to the edge of the broken waves, 

 often wading in the little pools, darting quickly to the left or right, 

 snapping at the flies or tugging at the small worms half hidden in the 

 sand. When flushed it usually flies quickly, with rapid beats of its wings, 

 often running a few yards with wings expanded ere launching itself into 

 the air. It is often seen in small parties of perhaps half a dozen ; 

 but more often a pair take up their residence in a certain part of the 

 coast, seldom wandering far during the whole summer. The food of the 

 Kentish Plover is principally composed of small marine animals, such as 

 sand-worms, crustaceans, and small shell-fish. It also feeds on insects, 

 often capturing them in the air. The alarm-note of this bird (which is 

 constantly heard at the nest) resembles the syllable ptirrr. The call-note 

 resembles the syllable pitt ; this note is so rapidly repeated during the 

 breeding-season that it becomes a trill, and is uttered as the bird soars for 

 a considerable distance, flying round and round above its mate on the 

 sands below. 



The breeding-season of the Kentish Plover is in May. Although the 

 bird does not exactly breed in colonies, numbers of its nests are made close 

 together ; and even where the bird is not common all the birds of a district 

 often rear their young on the same suitable patch of coast. The nest is 

 very simple, a little hollow scratched in the sand or amongst the shingle. 

 This hole seldom or never contains any lining material, and the eggs are 

 laid on the bare sand. Sometimes a site is selected amongst the drifted 

 seaweed above the usual high-water mark. The eggs arc three or four 

 in number, and from the great resemblance they bear to the colour 

 of surrounding objects they are difficult to find. They vary from 



