" Tl 



CIIAUADIlIin.K — THE PLoVEHH — .EOIALITIH. 



159 



This suiiiowluit cosimiiiolitaM sprcii-s is found thiuiighout th<> nurthcrn uiiil eentrul 

 portions ot Kmii|K', ami is inirticuliiiiv conimoii in (in-ut Hiitaiii, wIutu it occurs 

 tlirouj^iioul tilt' year. It i'S|n'(ially Irciiuciits inlets an<l hays, where it feeds at low 

 water, on the fiats alonj; the coast, at iioiiits where the eld) of the tide I'Xi.uses 

 extendetl surfaces. This liird is also found on the hanks of lar^o rivers, and is occa- 

 sionally met with ai)out the margin ot iidand sheets of water. As a sjiccics it iu very 

 ahundant, and its hahits are descrihcd as lively ami intcrestint,'. 



.Mr. Varrell mentions that these hinls hav^; heen found hreeding on tiie warrens of 

 Iteachamwi'U ami at Klvcden, and on other warrens and heaths near Thetford in Nor- 

 folk, and in several otiier samly warrens in Norfolk and in Suffolk, at a considerahle 

 distance from the sea. They are said to jiair and nest very early in the season. Mr. 

 Hulmun found them sittiuj,' (Ui their e^^gs as early as the .'U)th of .March. Like all 

 the hirds of this genus, the Hing Plover makes no other nest than a .slight cavity in 

 the .sand, in which its four eggs are laid ; hut it sometimes lines or covers this cavity 

 with a nundier of small .stones ahout the size of peas, \ipon which the eggs are laid. 

 This very peculiar hahit of the sjiecies has given rise to the local mime, hy which 

 it is known in some of the ctiuntics of Kngland, of .Stonehatch. 



When rohhed of its eggs, this Plover will lay another .set of four; and this it will 

 do three or four tinn-s in a sea.son if as often despoiled. 



Others of this species de|)osit their eggs in any accidental depression on a hank of 

 sand, broken shells, or .shingle ahovc high-water mark. The j)arent hirds are devoted 

 in their attachment to their young; and when disturhed resort to various devices and 

 e.xiiedients to divert attention from their eggs or nestlings. The similarity in color, 

 hoth of their young and of thi' eggs, to the surrounding ohjects is u great source of 

 security, remh-ring it ditficult to distinguish them. 



The fooil of tht! ISinged IMover consists of insects, worms, and various forms of 

 murine life, thin-shelled Crustacea, t'tc., with which salt-water pools abound. Their 

 note is said to he a shrill whistle. 



This species is migratory in the high northern latitudes, in which it breeds, and in 

 which it is found only in the summer, or from March to October. Ilewitsoii found 

 it throughout Norway, and Linmeus met with it in various [)arts of Lapland in his 

 jiiiirncy, even as far north as the Lapland Alps. Scoresby, in his .Fournal, mentions 

 having met with this bird on the east coa.st of IJreenland ; and other Arctic explorers 

 have observed it on the west coast of the same island, at Princt; Kegent's Inlet, and 

 at Hccla Cove. In the interior of Europe it is seen on the hanks of rivers. Yarrell 

 states that it occurs as far south as Italy and Sicily, and also in .Malta ; and specimens 

 have Iwen received from Asia Minor. 



The eggs of this Plover measure 1.41 inches in length by 1.00 inches in breadth, 

 and are pyriform in shape ; their ground is of a pale huft' or cream color, spotted and 

 streaked with lines and blotches of bluish-ash and black. 



21gialiti8 cnronica. 



THE LITTLE BIHGED PLOVEB. 



Charadrius curoniciis, Gmei.. S. X. I. 1788, 6!t2. 



Algialilis curoiika, OiiAV, Cat. Biit. 11. IS63, 141. — Haiitixo, Ilandb. Brit. B. 1872, 184. 



Rincjw. Xom. N. Am. U. 18S1, no. .Ilit. - Couks, Oheok List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 690. 

 Charadrius philipphiiis, Lath. Iiid. Orn. II. 1790, 745. 

 Charadrius fluviatilii, Bkciist. Xiit. Viijf. Dputschl. 1809, 422. 

 Charadrius minor, Mi.VKii & Wolf, Tasch. Viig. Deutschl. II. 1810, 324. 



