THE GREY PLOVER. 14' 



The romance attaching to the capture of the Grey Plover's 

 eggs is fast being dispelled, but for many years it was con- 

 sidered to be the aim and object of every traveller to the 

 Arctic Regions to discover the nesting habits of the bird. The 

 first authentic eggs were taken by Von Middendorf in the 

 Taimyr Peninsula (N. lat. 7i°-74°), -^nd afterwards eggs were 

 also obtained in Arctic America by Mr. MacFarlane, but for our 

 best information as to the breeding of the species, science is 

 indebted to the expedition of Mr. Henry Seebohm and Mr. J. 

 A. Harvie-Brown, who found eleven nests on the tundras of 

 the Petchora River. Since then Mr. Trevor-Battye has ob- 

 tained eggs on Kolguev, and on the same island Mr. H. J. Pear- 

 son and his brother, Mr. E. C. Pearson, found many nests in 

 the summer of 1895. 



The account given by Mr. Seebohm of the search for the 

 nests is worthy of full quotation, did space but permit. It is 

 told with all the fulness of detail and careful observation with 

 which I have seen him write down the record of the day's 

 work on the expeditions on which it has been my good for- 

 tune to accompany him. He tells of the watching of each 

 female bird on to the nest, and continues as follows :— " The 

 female generally comes first to the nest, but she comes less 

 conspicuously than the male, generally making her appearance 

 at a considerable distance, on some ridge of mossy land. 

 When she has looked round, she runs quickly to the next 

 ridge and looks round again, generally calling to the male with 

 a single note. The male seldom replies ; but when he does 

 so, it is generally with a double note. When the female has 

 stopped and looked round many times, then the male thinks 

 it worth while to move, but, more often than not, he joins the 

 female by flying up to her. The female very seldom takes 

 wing. She is very cautious, and, if she is not satisfied that all 

 is safe, she will pass and repass the nest several times before 

 she finally settles upon it. She rarely remains upon one post 

 of observation long, but the male often remains for ten minutes 

 or more, upon one tussock of a ridge, wvatching the movements 

 of the female." Another pair of birds was watched by the two 

 Ei glish naturalists for two hours, but the birds flew about, 

 without any nest being discovered, and Mr. Seebohm con- 

 tinues :— " At last the mosquitoes tired us out, and we gave 



