48 
PLUVXALINJE. PLUVIALIS. 
tuse. Plumage ordinary, close, rather blended ; feathers 
oblong ; wings long and pointed, of twenty-five quills ; the 
primaries tapering, the first longest, the inner secondaries 
much elongated ; tail straight, nearly even, of twelve fea- 
thers. 
The species of this genus are very widely distributed, and 
one is common to both continents. They form large flocks 
after the breeding season, and generally betake themselves 
in cold weather to the shores of the sea. Their food consists 
of insects, worms, mollusca, and small Crustacea. They run 
with celerity, have a rapid flight, and emit a loud shrill 
whistle. The nest is a slight hollow in the ground, the eggs 
always four, pyriform, extremely large, and spotted. One 
species is very common in Britain, another breeds there in 
small numbers, and a third is a winter visitant. 
167. Pluvialis Squatarola. Grey Plover. 
Bill rather stout, nearly as long as the head ; a very dimi- 
nutive hind toe. In winter, the upper parts blackish-grey, 
spotted with white ; the cheeks, neck, breast, and sides grey- 
ish-white, streaked with greyish-brown ; the axillar feathers 
greyish-black. In summer, the upper parts black, spotted 
with white ; the forehead, a line over the eye, the abdomen, 
and legs, white. Young dusky -grey above, spotted with white 
and yellow, greyish-white beneath, the fore-neck and sides 
streaked with brownish-grey. 
Male, 12, 25, 7 T 9 *, I ™. 1 A? tV Pemale, 11-J, 23f. . 
The Grey Plover, which is pretty generally distributed 
over the continent of Europe, and is plentiful in some parts 
of North America, seems to be with us merely an annual 
visitant, appearing in small flocks in autumn and spring, 
chiefly along the coast, where it frequents the muddy and 
sandy beaches, which it searches for worms, insects, and small 
marine animals. It breeds in the northern countries, placing 
a few blades of grass in a slight hollow, and laying four light 
greenish-yellow pyriform eggs, blotched and dotted with 
brown and pale purple. 
Black-bellied Plover. Grey Sandpiper. Squatarola. 
Tringa Squatarola and Helvetica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 250, 
252.- — Tringa Squatarola and Helvetica, Lath. Ind. Ornith. 
ii. 718, 729. — Yanellus melanogaster, Ternm. Man. d’Ornith. 
ii. 5 4 7. —Pluvialis Squatarola, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 
