THE RINGED PLOVER 



like turr. The Ringed Plover feeds on a variety of 

 small creatures, such as sand-worms, shrimps, molluscs, 

 insects, and sand-hoppers. In London it is usually seen 

 singly or in family parties, but in autumn this species 

 assembles into flocks, and often consorts with Dunlins, 

 Sanderlings and other littoral species. It breeds in May 

 and June, the majority of individuals doing so on the 

 coast. The eggs are laid on the bare ground or in the 

 merest apology for a nest, and are four in number, pale 

 buff, spotted and speckled with blackish brown and 

 grey. 



The adult Ringed Plover has the general colour of the 

 upper parts greyish brown, with a white and a black band 

 on the forehead, a dark band below the eye ; a ring of 

 white surrounds the throat, followed by a broader one 

 of brownish black ; the remainder of the under parts 

 white ; the wings are dark brown and white ; the tail 

 brown tipped with white, and with a sub-terminal 

 black bar, decreasing towards the outermost feathers, 

 the last one on each side being uniform white. Bill 

 orange yellow at the base, black at the tip ; tarsi and 

 toes orange yellow ; orbits yellow, irides brown. Length 

 7 inches. The young in first plumage show little 

 trace of the black bands, and the bill is black. Young 

 in down are greyish brown mottled with dark brown 

 above, white below, with an indication of a white and 

 black collar. 



I may here add that the GREATER RINGED PLOVER 

 (dSgialitis major) visits the London area, although it is 

 difficult to distinguish between the recorded occurrences, 

 Very probably the present large and resident form of 

 Ringed Plover is much the less frequent visitor. It 

 resembles the preceding race, but is slightly darker and 

 an inch longer. It has also a length of wing ranging from 

 5.7 to 5.0 inches, against 5.2 to 4.8 inches in the Ringed 

 Plover. 



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