BIRD-LIFE ON THE MOORS IN AUGUST. 



73 



of July and August 12. The Curlews have almost entirely 

 disappeared from the fells by the latter date, but a few still 

 remain in the moorland districts, and in mild wet seasons 

 continue to frequent the rushy fields and low-lying " haughs" 

 till much later in the season. A few late-hatched young 

 Curlews may also be found about the places where they were 

 bred. These are often quite tame, and, lying close in heather 

 or long rushes, I have killed them to " point-shots," some- 

 times after a " rode " of fifty or a hundred yards before the 

 dogs — a remarkable occurrence when we remember the wild 

 nature of the old Curlew. 



As regards the Golden Plover, it is my opinion that the great 

 majority of the local-bred birds have departed for the south 

 before the " Twelfth." Their southern migration commences 

 at the end of July, and very few of the birds actually bred on 

 any given moor remain on it till the middle of August, On 

 the high "black ground " where they breed, we seldom see 

 many in August (except sometimes in wet weather) — only 

 a solitary ragged old bird with marbled breast, or a late 

 hatched young one still downy on the neck, which pipe about 

 by themselves, and generally manage to get shot. The Golden 

 Plovers being found more or less permanently {i.e., at all 

 seasons) on the moors, their migrations are less easy to trace 

 than those of birds which depart entirely ; but it appears 

 probable that those found on the Border moors in August are 



