GOLDEN PLOVER. 97 



with brownish-black and bright yellow, as in winter ; the 

 hind part of the back, the upper tail-coverts, and the tail- 

 feathers, greyish-brown, variegated with paler yellow, the 

 lateral tail-feathers barred with white. The middle of the 

 fore-neck and breast is brownish-black, that colour bordered 

 with white ; the sides of the neck and body variegated with 

 greyish-yellow and brown; the forehead, a band over the 

 eye, the chin, the abdomen, white, as are the axillar feathers ; 

 the lower wing-coverts light grey ; the lower tail-coverts 

 white, with their outer webs and tips banded with brown 

 and yellow. 



Female in Summer. — The female differs from the male 

 only in having less black on the lower parts. 



Habits. — Many a time and oft, in the days of my youth, 

 when the cares of life were few, and the spirits expansile, 

 and often too in later years, when I have made a temporary 

 escape to the wilderness, to breathe an atmosphere untainted 

 by the effluvia of cities, and ponder in silence on the wonders 

 of creative power, have I stood on the high moor, and 

 listened to the mellow notes of the Plover, that seemed to 

 come from the grey slopes of the neighbouring hills. Except 

 the soft note of the Ring-Plover, I know none so pleasing 

 from the Grallatorial tribes. Amid the wild scenery of the 

 rugged hills and sedgy valleys, it comes gently and soothingly 

 on the ear, and you feel, without being altogether conscious 

 of its power, that it soothes the troubled mind, as water 

 cools the burning brow. How unlike the shriek of the 

 Heron — but why should we think of it, for it reminds us of 

 the cracked and creaking voice of some village beldame of 

 the Saxon race. The clear gentle tones of the Celtic maiden 

 could not be more pleasant to any one, or perhaps much 

 more welcome to her lover, than the summer note of the 

 Golden Plover to the lover of birds and of nature. As you 

 listen to it, now distant, now nearer, and near, and see the 

 birds with short flights approaching as if to greet you, though 

 in reality with more fear than confidence, with anxiety and 

 apprehension, the bright sunshine that glances on their 



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