222 CHARADRIIDA& 
This species 1s a summer-nugrant to our shores, arriving 
in April and departing about September. It has a limited 
distribution along the east coast of England from South 
Yorkshire to Sussex; in the latter county and on the 
coast of Kent, it used to breed in fair numbers. It also 
visits the Channel Isles, and has been obtained in Hamp- 
shire and Cornwall. Elsewhere it is rare as a British bird. 
Four or five instances of its occurrence in Ireland are cited 
by Mr. Ussher, but the only specimen known to exist is 
one preserved in the National Museum, Dublin. It origin- 
ally formed part of the Montgomery collection, and was 
obtained on the North Bull, Dublin Bay. 
There are no records from Scotland. 
The Kentish Plover, though more maritime in its habits 
than the Little Ringed Plover, sometimes resorts to localities 
at a distance from the coast. 
Food—This bird eats sand-hoppers, insects, and small 
worms. 
Voice.—The note is plaintive; when alarmed the bird 
utters a shrill whistle. 
Nest.—The nest is a hollow scraped in the sand, or 
among broken shells and shingle. he eggs, three in 
number, are rough in texture, and of a dull yellowish colour, 
spotted and streaked with black. They are often placed 
almost vertically in the nest, their pointed ends being buried 
in the sand. Occasionally the eggs are deposited on heaps 
of seaweed thrown up by the high tide (H. A. Dombrain). 
Recently Mr. Hepburn found a nest of the Kentish Plover 
with three eggs init, on the beach at Dungeness (May 10th— 
14th, 1900). The eggs were most difficult to distinguish from 
their surroundings. ‘The hollow in the shingle in which 
they were laid was 3 in. in diameter, and ? in. deep. The 
pebbles on the inside of the nest had a rather worn and 
stained appearance, from the birds sitting on the eggs” 
(‘ Zoologist,’ 1902, p. 62). 
Incubation begins about the end of May. ‘The parent- 
birds attend closely to their young and use much strategy 
in endeavouring to allure an intruder away. When dis- 
turbed at their nesting-quarters, they will fly round several 
times, then suddenly alighting on the ground, will crouch 
with outspread wings, and tail fanned, as though the little 
malingerers were really wounded. 
Geographical distribution.—Abroad, this Plover breeds in 
considerable numbers in Central and Southern Europe, 
