502 



6 



at a short distance above the ground and settle again at some distance to recommence running 

 along on the shore. The flight of the Ringed Plover is even, swift, performed by regularly timed 

 beats of the wings ; and as a flock pass through the air they perform various evolutions before 

 they alight, now exposing the dark upper surface, and now the white underparts to the spectator, 

 the entire flock moving regularly together. They frequently consort with other species of 

 Waders, such as Sandpipers, Redshanks, and others ; but this is only when they are scattered 

 about on the ground ; for on the wing they keep apart. To some extent, even with us here in 

 England they must be nocturnal in their habits ; for they are said to feed by moonlight ; but in 

 the light balmy nights in the high north I used to find them on the shores at all hours of the 

 night. With us the flocks break up in April, when the birds have paired ; and each couple then 

 resort to the place they have selected for the purpose of nidification, the major portion remaining 

 on or near the sea-shore, others, again, taking up their quarters on the shores of inland sheets of 

 water or on the banks of rivers, and in some instances in sandy localities at some distance from 

 water. I have frequently taken the nest of the present species, both on the south coast of 

 England and on the shores and small islands that fringe the coasts of the Gulf of Bothnia. 



The nest itself is nothing but a small depression in the ground, frequently just beyond the 

 reach of the water ; and occasionally a few fragments of shells are collected in this hollow, in 

 which the eggs, four in number, are deposited, they being placed with the pointed ends 

 towards the centre. Eggs of the Ringed Plover in my collection, from various parts of Europe, 

 are clay-yellow or clay-buff with an ochreous tinge, and are marked with underlying blackish 

 grey shell-markings and clearly defined blackish surface-spots and blotches, which are, as a rule, 

 tolerably generally scattered over the surface of the egg — some, however, being but sparingly, 

 and others tolerably profusely spotted. In size those in my collection vary from l-j§ by |~| to 

 I40 by 1 inch. 



When the young are hatched they are able at once to run ; and at the approach of danger 

 they squat and hide on the ground, their colour assimilating so completely to the surroundings 

 that it is almost impossible to distinguish them. When she has eggs, and especially when in 

 charge of her young brood, the female is most watchful and anxious, and will employ all means 

 in her power, such as feigning to be wounded, &c, in order to entice away the intruder from 

 the vicinity of her treasure; and when successful in her efforts, and she has induced him to 

 follow her to a safe distance, she will suddenly rise into the air and fly off, uttering her joyous 

 note as if rejoicing at the success of her ruse. 



The food of the Ringed Plover consists entirely of small marine animals and insects. 

 Mr. Robert Collett writes to me as follows : — " In the stomachs of specimens I shot in Einmark 

 in 1872, I found Amphipoda, young Littorince, Coleoptera, and fine gravel. In some individuals 

 from Jsederen, in the south of this country, I found in one exclusively Coleoptera (especially 

 Otiorhynchus ovatus) and traces of small mollusks, and in another the young of Littorina obtusata, 

 large Diptera, and some few Coleoptera and their larvae." 



The specimens figured are an adult male, in full breeding-plumage, and a young bird of the 

 year, both being the specimens above described. 



