344 THE PLOVERS 



remaining nests were normal beach nests, except that five of them 

 were " under the shelter of little bushes of sea-heath which grows 

 on the beach in small clumps to the height of about twelve inches 

 the nest-hollow being so much under the edge of the bush as to be 

 partially concealed by its stems." l 



A photograph by Dr. Heatherley of a nest similarly placed on the 

 beach at Wells was reproduced in the Zoologist, 1904, p. 365. Dr. 

 Kelso has found nests hidden among coarse shore grass, and also in 

 fields of sprouting wheat, peas, etc. Before the eggs in these nests 

 have hatched, they have become hidden by the growth of the 

 crops. 2 



The nest cavity is frequently formed so that a large stone or shell 

 comes on the edge. By far the commonest form of nest has a lining 

 or paving of small stones of uniform size. In the Breck district of 

 Norfolk and Suffolk I have never seen a nest without this form of 

 lining. Here the cavity must always be made in sandy soil, for 

 although in most parts there are many flints both on the surface and 

 mixed with the soil, there is nothing like the shingle of the seashore. 

 These nests on the warrens of the Breck are far easier to see if with- 

 out eggs. The formal saucer-shaped depression, with its neat paving 

 of small stones, is quite conspicuous, even at a distance ; but the four 

 eggs, arranged with their small ends towards the centre, just fit the 

 hollow, and their irregular dark markings on light stone ground-colour, 

 break up the formality of outline, and cause them to assimilate in a 

 remarkable degree with their surroundings. The ringed-plover forms 

 several " false nests " or additional scrapes, and these, although unlined, 

 are also more conspicuous than nests with eggs. I have found this 

 habit common in the Breck district, and other observers have 

 recorded it for the shore. 3 



It has been suggested by Dr. Kelso 4 that the ringed-plover is in 

 a transitional stage with regard to nest-building. The transition is 



1 Zoologist, 1904, pp. 172-3. - Ibid., 1904, p. 265. 



3 Ibid., 1889, p. 263, etc. " Ibid., 1903, p. 193. 



