DULWILLY. 
141 
DUCKER. — A name for several of the Grebes. 
DULWILLY ( Charadrius Hiaticula, Linn^us.) 
Charadrius Hiaticula, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 253. 1. — Gmel. Syst. 2. p, 683. — Laii, 
Syn. p. 112. A. 6 190. 13 Will. p. 230. t. 57 Ind. Orn. 2. p. 743. 8 
Temm. Man. d’Orn. 2. p. 539 Fleni. Br. Anim. p. 113. — Pluvialis torquata 
minor, Briss. 5. p. 63. 8. t. 5. f. 2 lb. 8vo. 1. p. 227 Petit Pluvier a collier. 
Buff. Ois. 8. p. 90. t. 6 — Sea Lark, Alhin, 1. t. 80. — Will. (Angl.) p. 310. t. 
57 Ringed Plover, Br. Zool. 2. No. 211 Ih. p. 129. t. Add. — Arct. Zool. 2. 
No. 401. — Lath. Syn. 5. p. 201. 8. — Lewin’s Br. Birds, 5. t. 184. — Wale. Syn. 
2. t. 161.. — Don. Br. Birds, 1. t. 18. — Pult. Cat. Dorset, p. 16. 
Provincial. — Ring- Dottrel. Sand Laverock. 
This species weighs about two ounces ; length between seven and 
eight inches. Bill half an inch long, the base half orange, the other 
black ; irides hazel. At the base of the upper mandible the feathers 
are black, which passes in a broad streak under the eye, taking in the 
coverts of the ears ; forehead white, behind which, on the top of the 
head, is a black band from eye to eye ; over the eye a streak of white 
passing backwards ; chin and throat white, continuing in a circle round 
the neck ; beneath this, on the lower part of the neck, is a broad black 
band encircling that part ; the back of the head and upper parts of the 
body and wing coverts pale brown ; under parts white ; quills dusky, 
with some white at their base ; shafts partly white ; tail consists of 
twelve feathers, the two middle brown, dusky towards the tips ; the 
three next black towards the encl ; in the next is only a brown band on 
the inner web ; the outer one quite white ; the whole tipped the same ; 
legs orange ; claws black. 
When dying, this bird shews a white bar on the wing, by reason of 
the base of the quills and tips of some of the greater coverts being of 
that colour. 
The Ring Plover is a plentiful species in most parts of the known 
world. In England every part of the coast is enlivened with its 
shrill note. It has been said to leave us in the autumn ; but this is 
certainly not the case, as we have frequently procured them throughout 
the severest winters in Devonshire, Cornwall, and other places ; but at 
this time they quit the open shores, and seek shelter in creeks and 
inlets. 
Early in May they pair, and we have found their eggs as early as 
the twentieth of that month. It makes no nest, but lays four eggs in 
a small cavity in the sand just above high-water mark. These are of. 
a cinereous-brown, marked all over with small black and ash-coloured 
spots ; weight three drams. It is remarkable that these, as well as 
most if not all species of birds that lay invariably four eggs only on the 
ground, place them so as to occupy the least possible space ; that is, 
