112 GRAY PLOVER. 



The young, which run as soon as hatched, are prettily marked with yellow and brown. 

 If suddenly frightened from her nest, the female generally runs some distance before taking 

 wing. When she has young she is very adroit in leading intruders from the vicinity of 

 her brood, limping off as with an injured wing or leg, till she thinks her progeny are 

 safe, when she flies off, to return to them when the coast is clear. 



Incubation is performed by the female alone, and is completed in seventeen days. 



The adult male in the breeding-season has the bill dusky black ; irides, brown ; forehead 

 and a streak above the eyes, pure white. On the nape the feathers are black, with the 

 margins golden yellow; upper parts, deep black, the margin of each feather being 

 spotted with golden yellow. Primaries, clove brown, with the shafts white ; tertials, nearly 

 black, with golden margins and tips ; sides of neck, white, with spots of black and yellow. 

 Throat, front of neck, breast, and abdomen, pure black; axillary feathers, white; tail 

 feathers, brown, lighter at the edges, with darker markings. Legs and feet, dark gray, 

 or lead-colour. 



In the winter the upper parts are of a browner black, with a greater proportion of 

 yellow than in summer. The under parts lose their black tint, and the cheeks, sides of 

 neck, and breast are ashy brown, with a shade of yellow over them. Throat, belly, and 

 vent, white. In other respects as in summer. 



The adult birds of both sexes have their plumage nearly alike at the same season of 

 the year; but young birds, during their first autumn, have the breast much darker in 

 colour than the same part of the old birds in winter, and throughout their first winter 

 may be easily distinguished from the parent birds by the greater proportion of dusky gray 

 on the breast and belly. 



The length is ten and a half to eleven inches. The beak measures one inch. 



GRAY PLOVER, (Squatarola cinerea.) Cuvier. 



This bird is an autumn and winter visitor only to our shores, seldom remaining longer 

 than the month of March; occasional lingerers have now and then been found as late 

 as June : these, however, are rare exceptions. Small parties of the Gray Plover migrate 

 to this country about the end of September or during October. It is very generally 

 distributed round the shores of these islands; though it can nowhere be said to be 

 abundant. On the continent it is found in the northern parts of Russia and Siberia; 

 on the shores of the Baltic, in Holland, France, Italy, and Spain. It is also recorded 

 as occurring in Java, China, Egypt, and South Africa. In North America it, or a 

 closely allied species, occurs in many places, extending even to the Arctic circle. 



As an article of food, the Gray Plover is generally considered to be much inferior to 



