288 BEITISH BIBDS 



The small ringed plover is a sprightly, prettily marked bird, with 

 conspicuous white and black collar, and a melodious voice. His 

 modulated alarm-note, somewhat plaintive in character, is familiar 

 to most persons who walk by the seashore, for he is a common 

 species on our coasts, and has the habit of betraying his presence 

 by sounding an alarm when approached ; and if the intruder moves 

 quietly, and occasionally pauses in his walk, the little plover will 

 not take to flight, but continue running on before him, all the while 

 playing on his wild and sorrowful little pipe. In spring the male 

 has a fuller, sweeter note, by way of love-call or song, uttered occa- 

 sionally on the wing. He is an extremely active and lively bird, 

 running rapidly on the sands, and, when the tide is going out, often 

 keeping close to the water to pick up the small marine insects and 

 crustaceans on which he feeds. He is not, however, exclusively a 

 bird of the seashore, but is also found on the margins of rivers and 

 lakes, and sometimes breeds at a distance from the sea. As a rule 

 the nest is placed on the sandy beach, or fine shingle, above high- 

 water mark. The nest is merely a slight depression in the sand, in 

 which four pear-shaped eggs are laid, of a pale stone or cream 

 colour, marked with small round, blackish brown and grey spots. 

 The breeding season begins in May, and as eggs continue to be 

 found to the end of July, it is probable that two broods are reared 

 in the season. When the young are hatched the parent birds 

 manifest the utmost anxiety, and will attempt to lead a man or dog 

 from the spot by fluttering as if wounded along the ground. 



The ringed plovers are social hi disposition, and even during the 

 breeding season it is common to find them in small parties. In the 

 autumn they unite in flocks. 



This species is to be met with in this country throughout the 

 year ; but in spring our coasts are visited on migration by a ringed 

 plover of a different race, smaller in size. It is with this smaller 

 bird that the lesser ringed plover (JEgialitis civronica), a rare 

 straggler to England from continental Europe, is sometimes 

 confounded. 



Another member of this genus, the North American killdeer 

 plover (jEgiaUtis vocifera), has been once or twice obtained in this 

 country. 



