THE LIMICOLZ OF THE CLYDE AREA. 43 
it is frequently observed, sometimes in numbers, by inland 
waters, especially at the period of the autumn migration. 
The ringed plover is a sprightly and engaging bird, and 
prefers to nest on sandy and gravelly beaches, though the 
nest may be found in fields at some distance from the shore, 
but it is not known to nest in any strictly inland locality 
in Clyde. The nest is simply a hollow scooped in the 
ground, often lined with a few stalks of herbage and some 
white shells. The four eggs are placed with their pointed 
ends inwards and downwards, so as to occupy the least 
possible space. Incubation begins towards the middle of 
April, though a nest containing two eggs has been found at 
Lendalfoot by Mr G. Graham as early as the 9th of March 
(“Scottish Naturalist,” 1912, p. 165). A few late nests may 
be found till the third week of July. 
While the ringed plover is quite familiar on the shore all 
the year round, the greatest numbers are seen in the autumn 
months, and the fewest in early spring. In May, when the 
full resident population is here, the numbers seem to be 
much less than in autumn. Probably many of the autumn 
birds, like those of other species, go south never to return. 
*Golden Plover (Charadrius pluvialis, L.)—Abundant from 
autumn to spring near the shore, and inland when the weather 
is open, severe frost driving the inland birds down to the 
coast. Some idea may be formed of the numbers of this 
species present in winter, when I state that on New Year's 
Day, 1913, in a walk of seven miles, from Neilston to 
Thornliebank, I saw several mixed flocks of golden plovers 
and lapwings, aggregating between 5000 and 6000 birds, and 
probably half of these were golden plovers. In summer but 
a tithe of these numbers remain to nest on our moors at 
a considerable elevation. I am not aware of them nesting 
anywhere in Clyde under the 500-feet contour line, and I 
have seen nestlings at nearly 2000 feet on Benyellary, just 
beyond our limits. 
From early March, according to the season, the return 
to the breeding haunts is made, and the wild, clear note 
of the golden plover on its native moor is one of the 
delightful sounds of spring that quicken the pulse of the 
lover of nature. 
The spring note has been rendered ‘‘jud-ee-a,” but the 
