472 



RINGED PLOVER. 



grey : the gorget is brown-grey, and the feathers 

 of the upper parts of the phimage are greyish, with 

 the edges of the feathers yellow. 



This species is common in all the northern coun- 

 tries of Europe and America ; it is also abundant in 

 Holland, France, and Italy, on the sea shore, but in 

 Germany it affects the borders of rivers : it is said 

 to migrate into England in the spring and depart 

 in autumn ; but this is denied by Montagu, who 

 asserts that he has captured many specimens during 

 the severest winters, in Devonshire, Cornwall, and 

 other parts, when they leave the shore and retire 

 inwards : during the summer it frequents the sea 

 shore, running nimbly along the sands, taking 

 short flights, accompanied by loud twitterings, 

 then alights ^nd runs again : if disturbed, it flies 

 quite off. Early in May these birds pair: they 

 make no nest, but the female lays from three to 

 five (generally four) eggs, in a small cavity in the 

 sand, just above high- water mark: these are of a 

 grey-brown, marked all over with small black and 

 ash-coloured spots, which are blended towards the 

 thicker end. They are greatly attached to their 

 young, and will use various artifices to save them 

 from injury. In the autumn they become grega- 

 rious, and continue in small flocks during the 

 winter : they feed on marine insects and wornis. 



