AVES—DOTTEREL....PLOVER....LAPWING. 623 
THE DOTTEREL! 
Is about ten inches in length, and weighs four ounces. The bill is shorter 
than that of the majority of this genus, being only an inch long. The head 
is black, spotted with white, and a white stroke runs over each eye, meeting 
behind. The upper parts of the plumage are grayish brown, margined with 
a dull, deep yellow. The breast is a dull orange, and acrossit is a streak of 
white, margined above with black. The colors of the female are less vivid. 
It is esteemed a very foolish bird ; and was believed to mimic the actions of 
the fowler, to stretch out a wing when he stretched out an arm, &c., regard- 
less of the net which was spreading for it. They appear in England in smal! 
flocks, from April to September. 
THE RINGED PLOVER.2 
Tue ringed plover is seven inches and a half long, though it weighs but 
two ounces; the bill is half an inch long, and from it to the eyes runs a black 
line. The upper part of the neck is encircled with a white collar, the lower 
part with a black one. The back and wings are light brown, the breast and 
belly are white, the legs yellow. They frequent the shores of England in 
summer, and are sometimes known by the name of the sea lark. They 
are also common in America. 
THEOLAPWING:3 
Tue lapwing, or bastard plover, is about the size of a common pigeon, and 
is covered with very thick plumes, which are black at the roots, but of diffe- 
1 Charadrius morinellus, Lin. 2 Charadrius hiaticula, Lin. 
3 Vanellus cristatus, MevEr. The genus Vanellus has the bill short, slender, straight, 
compressed, tip gibbous; nostrils lateral, longitudinally cleft; legs slender, with threu 
toes before and one behind; the middle one connected with the outer by ashort membrane 
and the himder one almost obliterated, or very short, not touching the ground; wings 
elongated. 
