The Little Ringed Plover 

 THE LITTLE RINGED PLOVER 



/Egialitis curonica (J. F. Qmelin) 



This species breeds in Scandinavia and throughout 

 Europe, being rather scarcer in the west. To our shores it 

 is only a very occasional straggler, not more than half-a- 

 dozen authenticated instances being known. 



It resembles the preceding species, but is rather smaller 

 in size, paler in colour, and the bill is narrower, longer 

 in proportion, and wholly black. The best characteristic, 

 however, is that the shafts of all the primaries, except the 

 outer ones, are dusky, whereas in the Einged Plover they 

 are all flecked with white to form a conspicuous bar when 

 the wing is opened. Length 6*5 in. ; wing 4*5 in. 



THE KENTISH PLOVER 



/Egialitis cantiana (Latham) 



As the Einged Plover is one of our commonest shore 

 birds, so the present species is one of our rarest, and it will 

 never be met with unless a special journey is made to that 

 lonely stretch of shore, which is its only home in these 

 islands. In habits it is almost the counterpart of the 

 Einged Plover, but is a true migrant, arriving in April and 

 leaving in September. The note is a short monosyllabic 

 whistle and quite distinct from that of the preceding 

 species. 



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