with during its stay in our country at any great distance 

 from salt water, though, in common with most maritime 

 birds, it occasionally straggles into inland localities. 

 In the south of Spain we found the Grey Plovers very 

 tame and fearless, but in the autumn, on our own coasts, 

 they are, as a rule, more wary than the Golden Plover. 

 To those who are not acquainted with this species, I 

 may mention that it is at once to be distinguished from 

 the Golden Plover (to which it bears a considerable 

 superficial resemblance in shape and winter plumage) by 

 the presence of a hind toe and the black axillaries or 

 under wing- feathers ; it is also a somewhat larger and 

 heavier bird, and the note is very distinct from the well- 

 known plaintive whistle of the species last named. I 

 have noticed a peculiar habit in the Grey Plover that 

 I do not find recorded by other authors, — that of occa- 

 sionally throwing complete somersaults in the air in the 

 fashion of the Roller [Coracias garrulus). 



I cannot conclude this article without a reference to 

 Mr. H. Seebohm's most graphic and interesting account 

 of his experiences on the breeding-grounds of the Grey 

 Plover in the valley of Petchora during the summer of 

 1875, and the success that he and his companion, 

 Mr. Harvie-Brown, met with in their search for the 

 nests, eggs, and young of this species. A full and 

 most absorbingly fascinating record of this ornithological 

 triumph can be found in vol. iii. of Mr. Seebohm's 

 ' History of British Birds.' 



The Grey Plover supports the confinement of an 

 aviary fairly well ; the drawing for the accompanying 

 Plate was taken from a bird that has passed two years 

 in my possession at Lilford. 



