KENTISH PLOVER. 27 



light to dark buff in ground-colour, and are spotted, scratched, and 

 blotched with blackish brown, and with underlying markings of inky- 

 grey. Some eggs are much more richly coloured than others; some 

 have the markings composed of blotches and spots, others of streaks 

 specks, and scratches. They vary in length from 1-35 to I'lS inch, and 

 in breadth from -95 to '85 inch. It is not easy to confuse the eggs of this 

 species with those of any other British bird. Their much smaller size 

 darker colour, abundance and peculiarity of markings readily distinguish 

 them from the eggs of the Ringed Plover ; whilst their larger size and 

 heavy character of markings distinguish them from those of the Little 

 Ringed Plover. They do not differ much in size from eggs of the Lesser 

 Tern, but are more pointed, and the surface-spots are smaller, more streaky, 

 and darker in colour, whilst the underlying spots are smaller and fewer in 

 number. When its breeding-grounds are intruded upon the Kentish 

 Plover becomes very anxious, running before the observer, taking little 

 flights, or even feigning lameness to try and allure him away. If the 

 young are hatched its actions become even more anxious, and it will 

 swoop round an intruder's head, uttering its plaintive note or flutter 

 along the ground before him. The Kentish Plover does not sit very 

 close ; the instant danger threatens, the watchful male conveys the alarm 

 to his brooding mate, and she leaves her eggs at once, conscious that their 

 protective colouring will ensure their safety. Only one brood appears 

 to be reared in the year. 



I met with the Kentish Plover very abundantly on the islands in the 

 lagoon of Missolonghi during the breeding-season, and also on the shores 

 of the Black Sea. 



The Kentish Plover difiers from the Ringed Plovers previously described 

 in many important particulars. The black ring round the neck is only 

 represented by a black patch on each side of the breast ; the black frontal 

 patch is very similar, but the black line which runs through the lores is 

 very obscure on the ear-coverts and altogether absent at the base of the 

 upper mandible ; the hind head and nape, instead of being of the same 

 colour as the back, are buff"; the general colour of the upper parts is paler, 

 and the white shaft -streaks on the primaries much less developed ; the 

 four centre tail-feathers are brown and the remainder are white. Bill 

 legs, and feet black ; irides hazel. In the female the parts which are 

 black in the male are brown, and the hind head and nape have very slight 

 traces of buff". After the autumn moult the male scarcely differs in colour 

 from the female. Birds of the year resemble adults in winter plumage 

 except that the brown feathers have pale buff" margins, and in the female 

 the white on the forehead is suffused with brown. In young in first 

 plumage the pale margins of the feathers are broader and more buff". Youno- 

 in down closely resemble the young of the Ringed Plover, but are more buff. 



