The small ringed plover is a sprightly, prettily marked bird, with conspicuous white and black collar, and a melodious voice. His modulated alarm-note, somewhat plaintive in character, is familiar to most persons who walk by the seashore, for he is a common species on our coasts, and has the habit of betraying his presence by sounding an alarm when approached; and if the intruder moves quietly, and occasionally pauses in his walk, the little plover will not take to flight, but continue running on before him, all the while playing on his wild and sorrowful little pipe. In spring the male has a fuller, sweeter note, by way of love-call or song, uttered occasionally on the wing. He is an extremely active and lively bird, running rapidly on the sands, and, when the tide is going out, often keeping close to the water to pick up the small marine insects and crustaceans on which he feeds. He is not, however, exclusively a bird of the seashore, but is also found on the margins of rivers and lakes, and sometimes breeds at a distance from the sea. As a rule the nest is placed on the sandy beach, or fine shingle, above high-water mark. The nest is merely a slight depression in the sand, in which four pear-shaped eggs are laid, of a pale stone or cream colour, marked with small round, blackish brown and grey spots. The breeding season begins in May, and as eggs continue to be found to the end of July, it is probable that two broods are reared in the season. When the young are hatched the parent birds manifest the utmost anxiety, and will attempt to lead a man or dog from the spot by fluttering as if wounded along the ground.
The ringed plovers are social in disposition, and even during the breeding season it is common to find them in small parties. In the autumn they unite in flocks.
This species is to be met with in this country throughout the year; but in spring our coasts are visited on migration by a ringed plover of a different race, smaller in size. It is with this smaller bird that the lesser ringed plover (Ægialitis curonica), a rare straggler to England from continental Europe, is sometimes confounded.
Another member of this genus, the North American killdeer plover (Ægialitis vocifera), has been once or twice obtained in this country.
PLATE II. DOTTEREL. ½ NAT. SIZE.
Dotterel.
Endromias morinellus.
Crown dusky black, bordered by a white band extending backwards from the eye round the nape; upper parts ash-brown, the inner secondaries margined with rufous; tail-feathers broadly tipped with white, except the middle pair; throat dull white; upper breast ash-brown; white gorget or band lower breast, and flanks bright chestnut; belly black; tail-coverts white. The female is larger and brighter than the male. Length, nine inches.