2io Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



land and full of sandy reaches, rolling downs, rocky 

 islets and stacks, and lengths of shingle and sand 

 there are but two typical marine species (at most 

 three, if we include the doubtful Oyster-catcher) that 

 breed, and one only of these, the Herring Gull, in 

 any numbers; the other, the Ringed Plover, is local 

 and nowhere numerous! But how very different is 

 the case when we get round the English coast as far 

 as the Wash and enter that area which for the pur- 

 poses of the present work we describe as the northern 

 shires. Let us follow this line of varied coast, with 

 its alternating lengths of sand and shingle, buttress- 

 like cliffs, rocky shores, and islets round to the 

 Forth, and briefly glance at the several species that 

 frequent it and breed upon it in succession. We 

 will, however, leave for a future chapter the birds 

 that are more strictly confined to the sea cliffs, and 

 deal with those only that nest either along the flat 

 shores or low rocky islands. 



The first two species that we shall meet with 

 during summer on the sandy reaches of the Lincoln- 

 shire coast are the Lesser Tern and the Ringed 

 Plover. The first-named of these is a summer 

 migrant and a late one. We remark it passing up 

 the Devon coast early in May; it reaches its breed- 

 ing-places by the middle or the third week in that 

 month on the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire coasts, but 

 is later still in Scotland. The return passage is 



