356 THE PLOYERS 



pairing-song " trit tritritritrirrr" 1 The beauty of the system of 

 expressing bird-notes in words is that, if you are familiar with the 

 note, almost any formula will serve to recall it. If you are not 

 familiar with the note, no formula will convey an idea of the real 

 thing. 



The Kentish-plover has been described by one who knew it 

 well as a noisy little bird. " They course over the beach all day long 

 uttering their whistling cries. Even the skylarks have caught their 

 plaintive notes, and they produce them amongst their own with 

 startling exactitude," 2 



GOLDEN AND GBEY-PLOVERS 

 [W. FARREN] 



These two handsome plovers have much in common. Their 

 plumage is similarly ornamented with dark mottlings one on a gold, 

 the other on a silver ground. In the breeding season both don a 

 deep black throat and breast ; in general habit they are very similar, 

 but the apparently insignificant difference of a diminutive hind-toe 

 which is present in the grey, but not in the golden-plover, is con- 

 sidered sufficient reason for placing the two in different genera. 



In spite of the superior size and the bolder barrings on the back 

 of the grey-plover, and the silvery whiteness of the lighter parts of its 

 upper surface, compared with the yellow of the golden-plover, there is 

 a time when some difficulty may be experienced in distinguishing 

 between them in the field. This is in the autumn, when the young 

 birds of the two species have not acquired that amount of colour 

 contrast that distinguishes them in after life. The yellow on the back 

 of the golden-plover at this stage is less clear, and the white of the 

 grey-plover is tinged with yellow. A small hind-toe, sufficient to form 



1 Vogelw. Bork., pp. 154-7. Zoologist, 1896, p. 412. 



