f both kinds ; and it was from those there obtained that the

a iffic in finding the young 0
Be a the old of these two Plovers also differ in

figures in the accompanying Plate were drawn.
the colouring of their soft parts and in the size of their eyes.

The young as well as
The characteristic markings of their eggs, too,

are also very different.
The visitor to Lydd will also see a fine colony of Black
and both the Lesser and Common ‘Terns in abundance.

two earlier, I might have observed the wandering Sand-Grouse, Syrrhaptes
, and I had with me as a guide the person who com-

headed Gulls in a rusb-pit in the midst of the wastes,
Had my visit to that enchanting spot been a year or
paradowus, flying to and fro; for this

was one of the localities they frequented when with us
mitted the barbarous act of shooting some of them.

The Kentish Plover is a true spring migrant to our shores
season on the coasts of Cornwall, Sussex, Suffolk, and Norfolk.
but, according to Mr. Blake Knox, ‘it has been observed in a few instances dur
Dublin coast ; it is however, at all times a rare visitant to Ireland.” —Zoologist, 1866, p. 301. .

On the continent of Europe it is more abundant than with us. In some parts of Spain it is_ particularly
over the whole of North Africa, and almost as far as the
‘Notes on the Birds of Damara Land,’ p. 272, where he

and may be seen, at least sparingly, at that
It does not go so far north as Scotland ;

ine its migrations on the
=) 5

numerous, and is found in still greater numbers

Cape Colony, as is evidenced by Mr. Anderson’s
says, “ This is rather a rare bird, and hardly to be found except or
interspersed with grass and aquatic herbage. It feeds on
abound on the beach of Walwich Bay, and of which

1 the sea-coast, in the neighbourhood of

which it seeks its food on the open ground,
worms and insects, and also on the sandhoppers which
it seems particularly fond. I have invariably found it 10 pairs, but have never met with its nest.”

This species is also mentioned in Layard’s * Catalogue of the Birds of Ceylon,’ p. 296; and, according to
Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub, it is found at Mozambique, vide ‘ Birds of East Africa,’ p. 654.

As we learn from the writings of various authors, the Kentish Plover is particularly plentiful in India.
Jerdon, when writing on the birds of this family, says it is more common than either Agialitis Geoffroyn
or A. pyr: hothorax, “ being more frequently found far inland on the banks of rivers and large tanks, but
prefers the neighbourhood of the sea-coast and large rivers near their mouths. It has a wide geographical
distribution over the Old Continent. 4. hiaticula, ruficapilla, and imornata of Gould, from Australia, are
members of this group; and there are others.” He then proceeds to remark, “ The next group is that of the
Ringed Plovers, which frequent dry sandy plains,” clearly showing he considered these were two distinct but
nearly allied forms—a view of the subject I myself took many years ago.

Mr. Swinhoe states, in his ‘List of the Birds of China,’ that the Kentish Plover is found on the coasts of
that country in winter. This may be the case; but I have seen specimens of a bird from thence which I
consider distinct, but most nearly allied, and which certainly possesses characters that, if I may be allowed
to speak from recollection, would render it necessary to give it a distinct specific appellation.

The sexes of the Kentish Plover are nearly of the same size; and the average weight is about two ounces.

The Plate represents male and female, with young at the age of two or three days, of the natural size.