200 BULLETIN 14 6; UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ehauce for a successful landfall, since unitedly tliey stretch away in a very thin 

 line for some 2,200 miles. Moreover the islands are close enough together so 

 that migrants high in air would not be likely to miss them by passing between. 



The birds which breed in Siberia are probably those that migrate 

 through MongoKa and Japan and spend the winter in India, Burma, 

 the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. 



Winter. — Maj. G. Ralph Meyer has sent me the following notes on 

 this plover in the Hawaiian Islands: 



The plover are very plentiful and I see them passing over every day. They 

 usually arrive about tlie middle of August and remain until the middle of 

 March. Along about that time of the year they seem to congregate on the flats 

 on the northeast end of the island and probably leave from there on the long 

 flight to Alaska. During the winter they alternate between the plains of the 

 high central plateau of the island and the lowland on both sides of the island. 

 On the east side there is some low grassy land and they are common there. On 

 this side they frequent tide flats during the low tides and then go up into the 

 central plateau during the liigh tides. They perhaps spend some of the time in 

 sheltered ponds on this side and wherever they can find muddy flats on which 

 to feed. 



The call note when flying is usually a whistled too-whee, easily imitated. 

 They answer to the call note very readily and we use this when hunting them. 

 We use plover decoys, placing them in the mud flats during high tide, and then 

 at the turning of the tide the birds come from the direction of the mountains 

 to feed. The decoys are placed on the highest part of the flats, so that the birds 

 will have no other place to alight. We face the decoys up the wind, as the 

 birds usually face that way when they are feeding. As they come near we call 

 to them, merely imitating their call. They will circle around and finally decoy 

 very nicely if they are not alarmed by any sudden movement. When circling 

 around decoys they make a sort of chtickling noise, which I can not describe 

 except as a chuckling whistle. Occasionally a wandering tattler will decoy 

 and very often we get turnstones. On one occasion last year I saw a flock of 

 about 20 to 30 birds, apparently turnstones, flying in a " V " or semicircle 

 formation, and the leader was undoubtedly a plover. The birds were a couple 

 of hundred feet in the air, so I could not be sure of the turnstones, but I was 

 sure of the plover. He was leading them, for they followed him wherever he 

 went. On a visit to Hawaii in July, 1916, I found plover on the slopes of Mauna 

 Loa, one of the high mountains of the island. I have never seen them on this 

 island during the summer. 



W. B. Alexander tells me that this plover is — 



a common visitor to Australian coasts, especially in siimmer, though some 

 appear to be present at all seasons. While in Australia this species is usually 

 found in small flock.s and is partial to reedy swamps and the mai'gins of lakes, 

 as well as to estuaries fringed with mangroves. In fact, it evidently likes cover, 

 though it may be met with on the open sea beach. 



In his notes from Australia, Charles Barrett says : 



All parts of the Commonwealth receive their quota of golden plover, and in 

 the southern portions of the country the birds are seen about the end of October 

 (early summer). The species is nowhere very plentiful (A. J. Campbell), but 

 I have seen it often, singly, or in small flocks, in different localities, chiefly 

 along the seashore and on swampy land, seeking small shellfish, etc. Some- 



