32 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



THE GREY PLOVER. 



{Squatarola Helvetica^ 



Male. — The bill rather stout, nearly as long as 

 the head, black, iris dusky ; the upper parts 

 blackish-grey, variegated with numerous white spots 

 along the margins of the feathers ; those on the 

 rump have a yellow tinge. Upper tail coverts white, 

 with dusky bars towards the end. Tail barred with 

 dusky brownish-black and white. The primary quills 

 and their coverts are chocolate brown, slightly 

 margined with greyish-white. The sides of the 

 head, the neck all round, the breast and sides of the 

 body greyish-white, streaked with brownish-grey. 

 The belly and lower tail coverts white, legs and feet 

 greyish-black. This bird has a small hind toe, which 

 the Golden Plover, the next on the list, has not. 



I have given the details of the bird's plumage as 

 it is usually met with. The breeding plumage, with 

 the exception of the spotted parts of the feathers 

 being white instead of brassy yellow, — as in the 

 Golden Plover, — is very like that of the latter bird. 

 Its length is twelve inches. 



The female is similar to the male, only smaller. 



THE GOLDEN PLOVER. 



{Charadrius pluvialis.) 



Male. — In summer the bill is black, the iris 

 brown ; the upper part of the head and fore-part of 



