163 



hides and eye-lids are pale yellow ; above each eye 

 there is a pale streak, and beneath one of the same 

 colour; the throat is white; plumage above is of a 

 tawny brown ; each feather has a dark streak down 

 the middle, .the breast is paler ; the belly, thighs and 

 vent are pale yellowish white ; the quills are black ; 

 the tail is white, tipped with black ; the legs are 

 yellow, naked above the knees, which are thick; 

 the claws are black. 



Length 16 inches. 



The Norfolk plover arrives in April, and frequents 

 the stony heaths and downs in many of the southern 

 counties. 



It feeds upon worms and insects, and according 

 to the observations of my friend A. H. Haworth, 

 Esq. F.L.S. it prefers the larv& of the bombyx tri- 

 JoliuSy which secrete themselves by day under loose 

 stones ; which the bird ingeniously enough turns up 

 to come at them. ( See Lepid. Brit. p. S3.) 



" It lays its eggs, usually two, never more than three, 

 on the bare ground, without any nest, in the field ; so that 

 the countryman in stirring his fallows, often destroys them. 

 The young run immediately from the egg like partridges, 

 and are withdrawn to some flinty field by the dam, where 

 they sculk among the stones, which is their best security ; 

 for their feathers are so exactly of the colour of our grey- 

 spotted flints, that the most exact observer, unless he catches 

 the eye of the young bird, may be eluded. The eggs are 

 short and round ; of a dirty white, spotted with dark bloody 

 blotches. 



