KINGED PLOVEK 215 



When not molested by the gunner, it is a tame little 

 creature. It may be seen alighting along the edge of the 

 shore a few paces from where an observer is standing, 

 when it will run for a few yards, then suddenly stop 

 and peer around with its large black limpid eyes. Now 

 remaining quite motionless, its pretty form and plumage 

 may be compared to an ornament placed upon the sombre 

 grey sands. 



So little heedful is this Plover of the presence of man 

 that it will venture on the crowded beaches of fashionable 

 watering-places, usually desolate of bird -life. Here, in the 

 presence of all sorts of noisy holiday-makers, with donkeys 

 galloping about, dogs yelping, and children screaming, a 

 little family-party of five or six Kinged Plovers may be seen 

 searching for food by the edge of the falling tide (Plate 

 XIII.). It is pleasant to spend some time watching the 

 movements of these nimble birds, at their favourite feeding- 

 grounds ; a hillock or sand-dune will form an excellent 

 ambush. August and September are the best months for 

 this purpose, as then great numbers of migrants, many of 

 them immature and remarkably tame, are scattered over the 

 strand. 



April, May, and early June are also good months in which 

 to make observations. In these months I have seen our 

 shores thickly studded with Kinged Plover, mostly migrants 

 passing northward to breed. On watching this little wader, 

 attention is at once arrested by the beautiful black and white 

 markings, which in the form of two collars adorn its neck. 

 Next, interest is aroused by the movements of this species 

 as it runs actively and noiselessly along the sands, half 

 mouse-like, half bird-like, its feet moving so rapidly that 

 the motions cannot be followed. But the movements of 

 the Kinged Plover are characteristic of the group to which 

 it belongs. It takes about a dozen short steps forwards, 

 then suddenly halts, perhaps picks up a minute worm, and 

 proceeds again for another dozen paces, then another halt, 

 and in this way the movements are repeated as a considerable 

 area of strand is traversed. 



At a distance or on a dark day, when its plumage- 

 markings are not very clear, this species can be identified 

 among a flock of other small wading-birds by its peculiar 

 run. Dunlins and Sanderlings, with which it often asso- 

 ciates, scamper about incessantly and in a most irregular 

 way. 



