Golden Plo\'er (Cluinuirins dominiciis douiininis) 



Kangc. — l>ret'<Is from Kotzcljiu' Souinl aloii},' tlu- Arctic coast to mouth of 

 Mackenzie, and from Melville Island. W'ellinj^ton t"hainu-l. and Melville Penin- 

 sula south to northwestern lludsoii I'.ay : winlers on the jiampas of llra/il and 

 Argentina. 



At one season or another the jj[(jlden |)Iover (jccurs over practically all of the 

 L'nited States and formerly its mnnhirs were enormous. The migrations of this 

 ])lover arc uni(|ue amon^jj shore-hirds. I'ndcr ordinary circumstances, the route 

 the hird follows to its Arj^'entine winteriiifj^ grounds protects it completely, since 

 when it lea\es Lahrailor it holdly strikes across the ocean and, unless deflected hy 

 storms, apparently does not fold its wings until it reaches the South American 

 Continent. So long a flight without resting may seem impossihle for a hird as 

 small as this plo\er. We know, however, that a close relative, the Pacific golden 

 plover, dies from Alaska to the Hawaiian .Vrchijjelago, a distance of quite 2,000 

 miles. While the Atlantic species might stoj) to rest if it would, the Pacific coast 

 species has no stopping place between its starting ])oint and its destination. Prob- 

 ably, as Cooke surmises, from food consideration the Atlantic coast species returns 

 in spring by an all-land route, and passes up the Mississippi Valley in great num- 

 bers. Though protected in fall from sportsmen by the route it follows, spring 

 shooting in the Mississippi X'alley has depleted the ranks of this plover to a pitiful 

 remnant of its fornur numbers. The time has indeed long passed when a party 

 of sportsmen, however large, can kill forty-eight thousand plover in a day. as 

 Audubon states was done near Xew Orleans in 1821. and now the question to be 

 solved is whether jjrotection during its spring migration comes too late to save 

 the species. 



The Echo in the Heart 



It's little I can tell - » 



About the birds in books ; 



And yet I know them well. 



By their music and their looks. 



When ^lay comes down the lane, 



Her airy lovers throng 



To welcome her with song, 



And follow in her train ; 



Each minstrel weaves his part 



In that wild-flowery strain, 



And I know thctn all again 



By their echo in my heart. 



— Hcnr\ Van Dxke. 



791 



