136 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



The eggs are usually three, but in some cases 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 

 noteworthy. The eggs measure on an average 1'2 inch in length by '9 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 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. Dr. Sharps, who has had an enviable experience of this rare 

 bird, thus writes respecting the young : — " I have, however, captured several 

 nestlings by resting my head on the shingle, when the little creatures become 

 distinctly visible against the sky-line as they run along with wonderful swiftness 

 for such tiny objects. I could never bring myself to kill any of these fluffy little 

 balls of down, with their great dark eyes and abnormally long legs ; and, later in 

 the autumn, I have been rewarded by seeing flocks of Kentish Sand Plovers 

 feeding on the green herbage which skirts the harbours after the tide has receded. 

 I once saw, from behind my shelter of a mud-bank, more than forty of these 

 pretty birds feeding on the green moss near Eomney Hoy, and a more interesting 

 sight can scarcely be imagined." As will be seen from the foregoing particulars, 

 the Kentish Plover becomes gregarious in autumn, as so many other kindred 

 species do. One brood only is reared in the year, and young and old keep in 

 company until the time of departure south. 



Diagnostic characters — Mgialitis, 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. 



