I had no difficulty in finding the young of both kin d s; 'and it was from those there obtained that the
figures in the accompanying Plate were drawn. The young as well as the old o f these two Plovers also differ in
the colouring of their soft parts and in the size of their eyes. The characteristic markings o f their eggs, too,
are also very different.
The visitor to Lydd will also see a fine colony o f Black-headed Gulls in a rush-pit in the midst of the wastes,
and both the Lesser and Common T erns in abundance. Had my visit to that enchanting spot been a year or
two earlier, I might have observed the wandering Sand-Grouse, Syrrhaptes paradoxus, flying to and fro ; for this
was one of the localities they frequented when with us, and I had with me as a guide the person who committed
the barbarous act of shooting some of them.
The Kentish Plover is a true spring migrant to our shores, and may be seen, at least sparingly, a t that
season on the coasts o f Cornwall, Sussex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. I t does not go so far north as Scotland;
but, according to Mr. Blake Knox, “ it has been observed in a few instances during its migrations on the
Dublin co a st; 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 o f Spain it is particularly
numerous, and is found in still greater numbers over the whole o f North Africa, and almost as far as the
Cape Colony, as is evidenced by Mr. Anderson’s ‘ Notes on the Birds of Damara Laud,’ p. 272, where he
says, “ This is rather a rare bird, and hardly to be found except on the sea-coast, in the neighbourhood of
which it seeks its food on the open ground, interspersed with grass and aquatic herbage. I t feeds on
worms and insects, and also on the sandhoppers which abound on the beach o f Walwich Bay, and o f which
it seems particularly fond. I have invariably found it in pairs, but have never met with its nesti” ,, '.
This species is also mentioned in Layard’s ‘ Catalogue o f the Birds o f Ceylon,’ p. 2 9 6 ; and, according to
Messrs. Finsch and Hartlaub, it is found a t Mozambique, vide ‘ Birds o f East Africa,’ p. 654.
As we learn from the writings o f various authors, the Kentish Plover is particularly plentiful in India.
Jerdon, when writing on the birds o f this family, says it is more common than either ¿Egialitis Geofroyii
or jE . pyrrhothorax, “ 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. I t has a wide geographical
distribution over the Old Continent. ZE. hiaticula, ruficapilla,, and inornata o f Gould, from Australia, are
members of this g ro u p ; and there are others.” He then proceeds to remark, “ The next group is that o f 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 ‘ L ist of the Birds of China,’ that the Kentish Plover is found on the coasts of
that country in winter. This may be the c a se ; but I have seen specimens o f 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 o f the Kentish Plover are nearly o f the same siz e; and the average weight is about two ounces.
The Plate represents male and female, with young a t the age o f two or three days, of the natural size.