172 BULLETIN 14G^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of nioorlaud birds. Before commencing to sing the cock bird mounts into the 

 air to a height of at least 100 feet and flies slowly, deliberately around the spot 

 where his mate is listening to him below, uttering as he flies a musical whistling 

 cry of two syllables sounding like whee-wheeu, the last being long drawn out. 

 His flight during this time is quite distinctive, he no longer cleaves the air with 

 sharp and I'apid wing beats, but moves his wings with slow deliberate strokes, 

 holding them V-shaped for an instant between the beats. Should he cease hfs 

 song — even for a few moments — the normal flight is at once resumed. His cry 

 on these occasions carries over a great stretch of moor, and I think can be 

 heard at a greater distance even than the vibrating notes of the curlew. After 

 some time, during which these long-drawn whistles are regularly continued, the 

 singer shoots earthward, uttering, just as he is reaching the ground, a curious 

 purring cry, repeated rapidly five or six times. On paper the sounds resemble 

 irooeii, troocu, trooeu. These descriptions apply strictly to the southern race, 

 but the habits of the two forms in tlie breeding season are identical and 

 the Icelandic birds perform their song flights in the same way as the Scotch 

 birds. Hantzsch points out very justly that the golden plover is not at all quar- 

 relsome in disposition, and though rival males may vie in song with one another 

 they meet frequently quite amicably and the natives have long noted the tolera- 

 tion which the plover extends to the dunlin and which has earned for the latter 

 the name Loa-thraoll, or, as our forefathers put it, Plover's-page. 



Nesting'. — There is no concealment about the nest; the vast ex- 

 panses of moorland or tundra are sufficient protection. Sometimes 

 the nest hollow may be found on a tiny hillock, sometimes in wiry 

 grass or among sparse or burnt heather. Such lining as there is 

 is usually scanty and consists of the materials at hand, leaves, bents, 

 or a bit of heather stem. Unoccupied scrapes may generally be 

 found near at hand. Even where the birds are plentiful, as in some 

 parts of Iceland, the nests are generally a considerable distance 

 apart. 



Eggs. — Normally four in number, occasionally three only, espe- 

 cially in late layings. Hantzsch (1905) records one instance of five 

 in a nest, and five have also been met with in the southern race. They 

 are pyriform and laid with the points meeting and are very beauti- 

 ful. The ground varies from a pale greenish blue to very rich and 

 warm shades of creamy brown, to almost orange, tinged brownish, 

 heavily blotched with irregular markings of deep chocolate or black- 

 ish. The measurements of 40 eggs from Iceland average 52.3 by 35.2 

 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 55.1 by 

 36.4, 51.G by 38.3, 49.2 by 33.8 and 52.3 by 33.2 millimeters. 



Incubation is carried on by both sexes, as Alfred Taylor has 

 watched the male and female change places on the eggs. This ex- 

 plains the rather contradictory accounts from various authors. 

 H. H. Slater, Seebohm, and R. Collett only shot males from the nest, 

 while Saxby, Hantzsch, and Heatherley only saw the female on the 

 eggs. Miss F. Pitt only noted the male on the eggs during the last 

 week of incubation, but flushed the hen once at an earlier period. 



