EUROPEAN GOLDEN PLOVER 173 



Early estimates of 16 and 20 days as the incubation period are cer- 

 tainly erroneous. F. Heatlierley watched one nest for 24 days, but 

 the eggs were probably laid some days earlier and in an incubator 

 one egg hatched on the 27th day (W. Evans). Although such wary 

 birds, it occasionally happens that a nest is placed in a hollow of the 

 ground from which no view of the country is possible to the sitting 

 bird. Riding at night suddenly up to a nest of this kind in Iceland, 

 Ave found the incubating bird did not stir from the eggs while three 

 men and ponies stood round, and it was not until a hand was placed 

 within 3 inches that the bird flew off. As a rule, the melancholy 

 piping note is the first intimation of the presence of a breeding pair 

 and shows that they are on the alert. 



Young. — The young leave the nest as soon as their down is dried 

 and are cared for by both sexes. They grow very fast, and Hantzsch 

 states that after 10 or 14 days they can flutter a little way, but the full 

 flying period is about 4 weeks. 



Plumages. — The plumages and molts are fully described in A 

 Practical Handbook of British Birds, edited by H. F. Witherby 

 (1920). 



Food. — On its breeding grounds the food consists of insects, chiefly 

 Coleoptera {Notiophilus., Agriofes, jSitones, Curculio and larvae) ; 

 Lepidoptera (Agrofis) ; larvae and imagines of Diptera, Hymenop- 

 tera (Formica and Forficula) ; also Mollusca (small terrestrial species, 

 snails and slugs) ; Aunclida (earthworms) and Arachnida (spiders). 

 On migration and in winter quarters it has been recorded as eating 

 marine mollusca (Vifrma, Littoiina, Rissoa, Lacuna, etc., and fry of 

 Mytilus edulis), also small Crustacea (Isopoda) and seeds of various 

 plants [Glaux mxiritima., Carex, Polygonum^ etc.), and berries of 

 RhaTunus, Vacciniu^n, Empetruin, etc.; also seaweeds (Algae). 



Behavior. — Outside the breeding season the golden plover is a gre- 

 garious bird, nearly always to be met with in flocks of varying sizes 

 and often associating with flocks of lapwings and feeding together. 

 On the alarm being given, both species take to wing, but in character- 

 istically different ways. The golden plover rise together and form 

 a compact body, maneuvering together in any direction, while the 

 lapwings rise gradually in an unwieldy mass, which breaks up from 

 time to time and the component parts move in different directions. 

 The pointed wings and more rapid strokes of the golden plover also 

 contrast strongly with the slow, flappy, irregular flight of the lap- 

 wing. Wlien on migration the golden plovers often adopt a loose 

 V-shaped formation. 



Enemies. — The peregrine occasionally takes toll of the flocks in the 

 autumn and spring months, while the skua gulls, or jaegers, and in 



