232 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



it loves the sand the best, and there it generally 

 rears its young. The actions of this pretty little 

 bird are always engaging. I could stand for 

 hours watching it trip about the smooth, brown, 

 wet sand, following each spent wave, and 

 searching every inch of ground as the water 

 recedes, picking up the sand-worms, shrimps, and 

 tiny mollusks washed from the deep. In autumn 

 it may be seen in flocks, but early in spring 

 these have all disbanded, and the birds are in 

 pairs. Yet even in the breeding season it is still 

 very sociably inclined, and all the birds breeding 

 on one stretch of sand may frequently be seen 

 feeding in company. The Ringed Plover, like 

 most shore-birds, breeds late, and its eggs are 

 not laid before the end of May or early in June. 

 These are generally deposited in a hollow in the 

 fine sand, not amongst the shingle. Nest there 

 is none, and even the hollow is often dispensed 

 with. The eggs are four in number, creamy buff 

 in ground colour, minutely spotted with blackish 

 brown and gray. These eggs are only found by 

 much patient, systematic search, as they so closely 

 resemble the sand on which they lie, and the old 

 birds seldom or never contribute to their dis- 

 covery. The young chicks are also very difficult 

 to see, and possess the habit of crouching close 

 among the rougher shingle when danger threatens 

 coasts of them. The KENTISH PLOVER (/E. cantiamis) here 

 Sussex deserves passing notice. It is a migratory bird, 



Channel .. .r & 11 r- i T 



islands. arriving in April and leaving in September. Its 

 habits and nesting economy are very similar to 

 those of the preceding species. The eggs, how- 

 ever, are smaller, darker, and more streaky than 

 those of the Ringed Plover. The Kentish Plover 



