Allen’s naturalist’s library. 
1 68 
Spain, and the Mediterranean countries it is found in suitable 
localities, both inland and near the sea-shore; and it extends 
pstwards through Central Asia to China and Japan. It winters 
in Africa, India, and the Malayan countries as far as Australia. 
Some of the African and Indian birds are smaller than our 
ordinary Kentish Sand-Plover, and have been separated by Mr. 
Seebohm as ^E. minuius. The Chinese form of this Sand-Plover 
is usually found to have pale legs, and have been described as a 
distinct species, dea/batiis, but after careful study of both 
of these forms, I have come to the conclusion that they cannot 
be separated from Ai. akxandrina. 
Habits. — Before the enclosure of the harbours at Romney and 
Pagham, I made the acquaintance of the Kentish Sand-Plovers 
in considerable numbers. At Pagham they were always rare, 
and I only collected single specimens, mostly immature birds ■ 
and in this part of Sussex I never found it breeding. In the 
neighbourhood of Romney, however, and along the Lydd beach 
to Dungeness, and thence to Rye, I have often met with the 
species, and a certain number still breed in this district, though 
their numbers have been decreased by the zeal of collectors ; 
and the artillery practice, now indulged in, must have disturbed 
them and the Stone-Curlews not a little. 
In the spring and summer the birds keep in pairs, and are 
not in any sense gregarious. The generally whiter look of the 
species easily distinguishes it from the Ringed Sand- Plover, 
which is found on the same shingles, but is not so common as the 
Kentish Sand-Plover. The nest is by no means easy to find, and 
the search is rendered more difficult by the way in which the bird 
runs away from it for some distance before taking wing. A little 
experience, however, in watching the female bird, and the remem- 
brance that, when first seen running, she must already be many 
yards from the actual nest, will lead the collector to trace back- 
wards, and a little care will end in the discovery of the eggs. The 
male generally flies for some little distance, and perches, a con- 
spicuous object, on some raised shingle or patch of mossy grass, 
when he constantly utters his piping note. The female, with much 
more apparent caution, runs crouchingly for some ten yards, 
then stops, and again runs on in the same conspicuous manner 
until she thinks that she has drawn the intruder far enough away 
from the eggs or the young to ensure the safety of the latter. 
