THE GOLDEN PLOVER 211 



ful red which presages the coming of fine weather to the 

 country of the hills. 



By far the majority of Golden Plover seen on the 

 coasts of Britain during the winter months are northern 

 migrants, and, as I mentioned earlier in this chapter, flocks 

 returning to the High North pass over us up to the opening 

 days of June. During autumn evenings big companies 

 of Golden Plover and Curlew pass high above the midland 

 counties of England on their way from their nesting 

 grounds. The birds usually fly in the form of a wedge 

 and at a great height, their whistling cries sounding faint 

 and far off. On quiet winter days, when thick banks of 

 fog hold the coast-line, the Golden Plover at times lose 

 their bearings in the white mists. I have seen them 

 emerge suddenly out of the gloom, calling to each other 

 repeatedly as they flew. For a time they are swallowed 

 up in the fog. Then they reappear, flying aimlessly in 

 circles, for they are strangers and in a strange land where 

 many unknown dangers may await them. 



As a nesting species in England the Golden Plover is of 

 local occurrence, but on the Border country is numerous. 

 As far south as Devon and Cornwall it breeds sparingly, 

 and is found also on the North Staffordshire moors. In 

 Scotland and Ireland it is found in numbers on suitable 

 ground. It nests in the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland. 

 Northwards it breeds on the Faroe Islands, and in Scandi- 

 navia is numerous. It is on the tundras of Northern 

 Russia that the Golden Plover has its headquarters, where 

 it rears its young far from all human habitations. 



A well-known ornithological authority has written 

 that the Golden Plover and Ptarmigan of the far north, 

 or those nesting at high elevations, assume a more hand- 

 some dress at the approach of the nesting season than 

 do their confreres farther south or on lower ground. In 

 this country I have not investigated the question as 



