222 CHARADRIHXE 



This species is a summer-migrant to our shores, arriving 

 in April and departing about September. It has a limited 

 distribution along the east coast of England from South 

 Yorkshire to Sussex ; in the latter county and on the 

 coast of Kent, it used to breed in fair numbers. It also 

 visits the Channel Isles, and has been obtained in Hamp- 

 shire and Cornwall. Elsewhere it is rare as a British bird. 

 Four or five instances of its occurrence in Ireland are cited 

 by Mr. Ussher, but the only specimen known to exist is 

 one preserved in the National Museum, Dublin. It origin- 

 ally formed part of the Montgomery collection, and was 

 obtained on the North Bull, Dublin Bay. 



There are no records from Scotland. 



The Kentish "Plover, though more maritime in its habits 

 than the Little Einged Plover, sometimes resorts to localities 

 at a distance from the coast. 



Food. This bird eats sand-hoppers, insects, and small 

 worms. 



Voice. The note is plaintive ; when alarmed the bird 

 utters a shrill whistle. 



Nest. The nest is a hollow scraped in the sand, or 

 among broken shells and shingle. The eggs, three in 

 number, are rough in texture, and of a dull yellowish colour, 

 spotted and streaked with black. They are often placed 

 almost vertically in the nest, their pointed ends being buried 

 in the sand. Occasionally the eggs are deposited on heaps 

 of seaweed thrown up by the high tide (H. A. Dombrain). 

 Recently Mr. Hepburn found a nest of the Kentish Plover 

 with three eggs in it, on the beach at Dungeness (May 10th 

 14th, 1900). The eggs were most difficult to distinguish from 

 their surroundings. " The hollow in the shingle in which 

 they were laid was 8 in. in diameter, and f in. deep. The 

 pebbles on the inside of the nest had a rather worn and 

 stained appearance, from the birds sitting on the eggs " 

 (' Zoologist,' 1902, p. 62). 



Incubation begins about the end of May. The parent- 

 birds attend closely to their young and use much strategy 

 in endeavouring to allure an intruder away. When dis- 

 turbed at their nesting-quarters, they will fly round several 

 times, then suddenly alighting on the ground, will crouch 

 with outspread wings, and tail fanned, as though the little 

 malingerers were really wounded. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, this Plover breeds in 

 considerable numbers in Central and Southern Europe, 



