SHORE HAUNTERS. 
97 
across the forehead, and in the general colours of their plu- 
mage are so much alike, as well as in their habits and manners, 
that the common observer would fail to distinguish one from 
another. The first species is common, and resident in Britain; 
the second occurs, but rarely, on the shores of the western 
and eastern counties of England ; and the third, although 
not uncommon on the Continent, is with us an extremely 
rare bird, the capture of a single individual only being on 
record ; that was killed at Shoreham, in Sussex, and from 
its extreme youth must have been bred here. Like its con- 
geners, it is an elegant little bird, but being so rare, need 
not further occupy our attention. Speaking of the Eing 
Plovers generally, Macgillivray says, that they have the 
body, and especially the wings and tail, more elongated than 
the Plovers, the neck shorter, and the head proportionably 
larger. White and grey, or brown, in masses, are their 
predominant colours. Their lower parts do not become 
black in spring and summer, as is the case with the Plovers, 
nor is their plumage ever spotted or striped like theirs. 
They frequent chiefly the sandy shores of the sea, lakes, 
and rivers. Their nests are slight hollows in the sand, 
sometimes with a few vegetable substances, and their eggs 
are four, extremely large, light coloured, and clotted or 
clouded with dusky tints. The young, covered with down, 
run presently after birth, and conceal themselves by squat- 
ting. All the species are very active and lively, run with 
great celerity, have a very rapid flight, and emit a clear 
mellow cry. Their food consists of insects, Crustacea, mol- 
lusca, and worms. 
Such, then, are the pretty and lively little Ring Plovers, 
haunters of the sandy shore, where A\^e may see their white 
breasts gleaming in the sunshine, as they run nimbly about, 
now following the retiring wave, to pick up the marine 
worms, and other small creatures, which lie exposed upon 
the sand, or can be found by thrusting the bill into it ; 
now retreating before the returning flow, or rising on the 
wing, and gliding along at but a small height above wave 
or shore, frequently performing some graceful evolutions 
before alighting. Sometimes one is quite dazzled by a 
sudden flash, caused by a flock of these birds, all turning 
G 
