472 
RINGED PLOVER. 
grey : the gorget is brown-grey, and the feathers 
of the upper parts of the plumage are greyish, with 
the edges of the feathers yellow. 
This species is common in all the northern coun- 
tries of Europe and America ; it is also abundant in 
Holland, France, and Italy, on the sea shore, but in 
Germany it affects the borders of rivers : it is said 
to migrate into England in the spring and depart 
in autumn ; but this is denied by Montagu, who 
asserts that he has captured many specimens during 
the severest winters, in Devonshire, Cornwall, and 
other parts, wlien they leave the shore and retire 
inwards: during the summer it frequents the sea 
shore, running nimbly along the sands, taking 
short flights, accompanied by loud twitterings, 
then alights and runs again : if disturbed, it flies 
quite oti‘. Early in May these birds pair: they 
make no nest, but the female lays from three to 
five (generally four) eggs, in a small cavity in the 
sand, just above higli-water mark: these are of a 
grey-brown, marked all-over with small black and 
ash-coloured spots, which are blended towards the 
thicker end. They are greatly attached to their 
young, and will use various artifices to save them 
from injuiy. In the autumn they become grega- 
rious, and continue in small flocks during the 
winter : they teed on marine insects and worms. 
