The Plovers. 
169 
more than half the length of 
the wings. The Kill-Deer 
Dottrel, so called from its note, 
is an inhabitant of North 
America, and is said to have 
been twice obtained in England. 
It is recognised at once by the 
cinnamon-rufous colour of the 
lower back, rump and upper 
tail-coverts. The nest is a 
depression in the ground, lined 
with grass, and the eggs are The Kill-Deer Dottrel. The Sociable Lapwing. 
four in number, brownish or 
cream-colour, with numerous spots of blackish-brown ; their length is about an inch- 
and-a-half. 
THE RINGED 
SAND-PLOVER. 
(JEgialitis hiaticola. 
The true Sand-Plovers resemble the foregoing species, but 
have a shorter and less conspicuous tail. The Common Ringed 
Plover has a black collar across the fore-neck, brown in young 
birds, a white forehead, followed by a black band across the 
head, and black ear-coverts. It is found on all the coasts of Great Britain, and breeds 
everywhere, being also occasionally noticed on inland waters, though here principally 
on migration. It nests throughout Europe on the shores and inland lakes as far as 
Central Asia, and is found in the far north on Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen. The 
bird is very wary, and is difficult of approach in the autumn, when it consorts with 
Dunlins and other shore birds and leads them out of danger. Both parents sham 
to be wounded, when the nest is approached, in order to draw the intruder away from 
their eggs or young. The eggs are pear-shaped, and are laid in a little hollow in 
The Kentish , Sand-Plover. 
The Little Ringed Sand-Plover. 
The Ringed Sand-Plover. 
