204 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



ill fiiie weather, and, evidently sighting me from a distance, 

 the Plover had left the nest long before I had reached it. 

 During the spring of 1914 I spent some time studying the 

 Golden Plover at its upland haunts. One nest I saw was 

 situated on a wide open moor near to a circular sheep 

 shelter (known to farmers as a stell). 



Though May had not arrived, the hen bird was sitting 

 very close, and when disturbed fluttered along the ground 

 with trailing wings, practising the well-established decep- 

 tion so common in the bird world. All the time I was 

 at the nest the Plover flew round anxiously, repeatedly 

 callmg in her plaintive whistle, and when I left the spot 

 she was so near that it seemed she would quickly return 

 to the nest. Although I waited for some time behind 

 the shelter, the bird could not make up her mind to ven- 

 ture back on to her eggs. 



For quite a long time she wandered round, from time 

 to time picking up an insect which her sharp eye had 

 located. Once, while walking quickly over some uneven 

 ground, she stumbled on the edge of a tussock of grass, 

 almost losing her balance, and appearing ludicrous in the 

 extreme in her efforts to regain it. The cock bird was 

 not to be seen ; he may have been away feeding, but 

 certainly he did not come near to lend his moral support 

 to his wife. 



The eggs of the Golden Plover arc always four in 

 number. The nest and nesting sites often resemble those 

 of the Green Plover, but the eggs are larger and more 

 handsome. The ground colour varies. It may be of 

 an olive green or of a buff-coloured brown, and on this 

 ground colour large marks of rich red brown are laid over 

 the eggs, the markings being generally more numerous 

 towards the larger end. The nest is markedly deeper 

 than that of the Lapwing. It is rarely placed in long 

 heather, but short heather of about eight years of age is 



