30 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



[vol. XV. 



birds. I give his notes on their behaviour during the following 

 three-quarters of an hour. 



" When we were about one hundred and fifty yards from 

 the hiding tent we saw one of the birds leave the nest and 

 walk slowly up the sandy slope behind it. This was the first 

 time either of us had seen the Plover leave the nest on our 

 approach. 



" After clearing the sand of all small branches and sea- weed 

 near the nest, and replacing the eggs in their original position, 

 I entered the tent at 1.50 p.m. In about ten minutes the 



Fig. 4. Ringed I'luxick : The malr briHjtliiii; thix<,' v. 

 {Photographed by J. N. Douglas Smith.) 



male Plover returned and found the eggs nearly covered 

 with sand. He seemed rather shy, and walked up to the 

 nest and then retreated for a few steps two or three times 

 before he decided to sit on the eggs. I am not sure of the 

 reason for this indecision. The front of the tent was being 

 blown about a good deal, but, on the other hand, there was 

 none of the upward jerking of the head which I had noticed 

 before in the case of both birds when they were nervous. 

 At first he sat down on two of the eggs and kicked the sand 

 out vigorously behind him. In doing so, he kicked the 



