THE GOT>PEN PLOVERS. 149 



spicuous objects, as tbey stand like silhouettes, their black 

 and white breasts and sides of neck presenting a sharp, clear- 

 cut outline on the brown and grey background. At intervals, 

 their clear, mellow, and melancholy note rises for a moment, 

 and then the bird apparently sinks into a day-dream, and re- 

 mains motionless for some time, until he is prompted to as- 

 sure his partner of his presence by another call. The male at 

 this season has a brighter plumage than the female, and in 

 places little frequented by man, he becomes very unsuspicious ; 

 near villages, however, he is always on the look-out, and is 

 difficult to approach even when he is found by his nest. 

 Towards the end of May, and during the first weeks of June, 

 the males utter a clear, rich, song, which is frequently heard 

 during the twilight of the short Arctic nights. 



"When 1 was camping at the Yukon mouth during the last 

 of May and the first part of June, 1879, these birds were 

 scattered all about in the vicinity of the tent, and frequently, 

 during the middle of the night, the song was heard close by, 

 and was exceedingly sweet and musical. One night, in par- 

 ticular, I remember lying awake, listening to the usual con- 

 tinuous faint clicking among the disintegrating ice in the 

 river, which seemed to make the silence still more marked, 

 when, suddenly, just at the back of the tent, arose the clear, 

 plaintive note of the Golden Plover, which may be represented 

 by the syllables too-lee-e. Soon after, in the same sweet, 

 musical tone, was uttered a marvellously harmonious succes- 

 sion of notes, which I wrote down at the time, listening to the 

 song as it was repeated again and again, and ascertaining the 

 exact number of syllables. These, I find, are very imperfectly 

 represented as follows : Tee-lee-lee ^ tu-lce-lee, wit, wit, zmt, ivce-u 

 wit, che lee-u too lee-e. The three last syllables are the ones 

 most commonly uttered, serving ns a call-note ; but the song 

 in full is only repeated on special occasions, as before re- 

 marked, being oftener heard during the still hours of the night 

 than during the day, if, indeed, it can be called night when the 

 sun disappears below the horizon for little over an hour." 



]^est. — The one discovered by Mr. Seebohm in Siberia w^as a 

 mere hollow in the ground, on a piece of turfy land, over- 

 grown with moss and lichens, and was lined with broken stalks 

 of reindeer moss. Mr. Nelson says that sometimes a slight 



