318 THE PLOVERS 



incubation. With regard to the period, there is some discrepancy in results. In 

 an incubator one egg hatched on the 22nd, another on the 23rd, while a third 

 lingered till the 25th (W. Evans), while eggs watched were hatching on the 21st 

 day (W. Evans) ; on the 25th day from the laying of the last egg (R. Clyne), or 

 28 days from the laying of the first egg (A. H. Patterson). The eggs are laid at 

 intervals of a day. The breeding season in the south of England begins about 

 the beginning of May, but exceptionally eggs have been found by mid- April, or 

 even earlier in the Breck district (W. Farren). As they may be met with through 

 June and even in July, it is probable that two broods are often reared in a 

 season in the British Isles. [F. c. B. J.] 



5. Food. Various small marine animals, such as the smaller thin-skinned 

 crustaceans, small molluscs, and worms. Insects in various stages. Results of 

 stomach analyses are as follows : Adults and young in down, principally 

 insects, their larvae and pupae. Adults, also remnants of plants (Manniche, N.E. 

 Greenland, p. 126). Vegetable matter has also been found in stomachs examined 

 by Prof. Patten, and " one gizzard was filled with remains of lustrous blue-black 

 beetles" (Aquatic Birds, p. 217). The food of the young consists chiefly of insects 

 and their larvae and pupae, also sandhoppers and small worms. They are 

 assisted in the search for food by both parents, [w. F.] 



KE NT ISH-PLOVER \Mgialitis alexandrina (Linnaeus) ; Mgialiiis cantidna 

 (Latham). Stone-runner. French, pluvier d collier interrompu; German, 

 See-Begenpfeifer ; Italian, fratino], 



i. Description. The Kentish-plover may be distinguished at all ages by 

 the black beak and legs. The female differs slightly from the male, and there is a 

 seasonal change of coloration. (PI. 117.) Length 6'5 in. [153'67 mm.]. The male 

 has a black and white band across the forehead, the white produced backwards over 

 the eye, the lores are black, and there is a black patch on the hinder ear-coverts ; 

 the cheeks are white. The crown and nape are of a rufous red. The hind-neck is 

 marked by a white collar blending in front of the white of the under parts. The 

 mantle and wing-coverts are of a pale brown, the major coverts being tipped with 

 white. The median upper tail-coverts are of a darker brown than the back, while 

 the lateral coverts are white. The four central tail feathers are dark brown, the 

 next smoke-brown with white shafts, while the outermost are white. The exposed 

 portions of the primaries are dark brown, the inner webs paler brown, and the shafts 



