132 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



round and round above his mate. The food of the Kentish 

 Plover consists of sand-worms, crustaceans, moUusks, and insects. 

 Much of this is sought amongst the drift near high-water mark as 

 well as near the ebbing or flowing tide. 



Nidification. — Soon after its arrival at its breeding grounds 

 the Kentish Plover begins nesting, and the eggs are laid by the 

 end of May, or, at latest, the beginning of June. This species 

 makes no more nest than merely scraping a little hollow in the 

 sand or shingle, although it is said the eggs are sometimes laid 

 on dry drifted seaweed above the usual high-water mark. 

 Numbers of nests may be found quite close together, especially 

 in places where the bird is common. The eggs are usually three, 

 but frequently four, in number, various shades of buff in ground 

 colour, spotted, scratched, and blotched with blackish brown and 

 slate-grey. The scratchy character of the markings on the eggs 

 of this species is very noteworthy. The eggs measure on an 

 average i'2 inch in length by "g inch in breadth. The 

 sitting bird usually receives timely notice of the advance of an 

 enemy, and slips quietly off the nest, leaving the eggs to the 

 protection their colours ensure, for they resemble most closely 

 the ground on which they rest. When the young are hatched 

 the parents become much more demonstrative, and seek by 

 various antics to lure an intruder away. It is said that the eggs 

 are sometimes nearly buried in the sand, but whether for warmth 

 or concealment it is difficult to say. Only one brood is reared 

 in the year, and young and old keep in company until the time 

 of departure south. 



Diagnostic Characters. — /Egialophilus, with the nuchal 

 collar white, a dark patch on the sides of the breast, but not 

 extending round the neck, and with a white patch on the central 

 portion of the shaft of the third primary. Legs black. Length, 

 6 to 7 inches. 



