343 



THE GREY PLOVER 



is about twelve inches long and twenty-five broad, and weighs 

 seven ounces ; the bill is black, about an inch long : in the roof 

 of the mouth is a double row of spinous appendages pointing 

 inwards ; the head, back, and wing coverts, are of a dusky brown, 

 edged with greenish ash-colour, and some with white ; the cheeks 

 and throat white, marked with oblong dusky spots ; the belly, 

 thighs, and rump, white; the exterior webs of the quill feathers 

 black ; the lower part of the interior webs of the first four white : 

 the tail is short, does not project beyond the wing, and is marked 

 with transverse bars of black and white; the legs are of a dirty 

 green ; the back toe extremely small. This bird is in no great 

 abundance, in England;* they generally come in small flocks 

 about October, and leave this country about March : in cold 

 and frosty weather they seek their food on such lands as lie near 

 the sea ; in open weather they feed in ploughed fields, especially 

 if sowed ; and, having fed, fly to some plash of water to wash 

 their beaks and feet ; a habit which is also common to the wood- 

 cocks, the lapwings, the curlews, and many other birds which 

 feed on worms ; they sleep chiefly in the day in calcn weather, 

 passing most of the night in running up and down after the 



* Mr. Gilpin speaks of them as sometimes abounding in the New 

 Forest. ' Plovers of different kinds (says that gentleman) are common in 

 its heathy parts. I have sometimes seen large flocks of the grey species, 

 and admired them as they encircled the air ; in their regular flight they 

 in some degree resemble water- fowls, but are not so determined in their 

 course, wheeling about and forming various evolutions : at times they 

 appear scattered and in confusion, until closing together, as if by some 

 word of command, they get again into form. " 



