CHARADRIID.T.. 



531 



THE GOLDEN PLOVER. 



Charadrius pluvialis, LinnDsus. 



The Golden Plover is most plentifully and generally distributed in 

 the British Islands on its migrations and during the colder months 

 of the year ; the autumnal passage southward opening with a few 

 black-breasted birds early in August, though the large flocks of 

 young seldom arrive till the end of .September, and are followed 

 by the adults from October to November. A return northward is 

 noticed in March, when the birds which have their breeding-places 

 on our moorlands retire from the coasts which they have fre- 

 quented during the winter ; but for long after these have been 

 engaged in the task of incubation, flocks from the south continue 

 to pass upward ; the plumage of the later arrivals being, as a rule, 

 far richer in colour than that of our home-keeping individuals. 

 These nest sparingly on the high ground in Devon and Somerset, 

 more plentifully in Ereconshire with other counties of Wales and its 

 marches, and in increasing abundance from Derbyshire northwards 

 to Sutherland. On the moors of the Orkneys, Shetlands, and 

 Hebrides this species is common, enormous numbers frequenting 

 the sandy pastures and shores in winter ; while in Ireland it breeds 

 in suitable localities, and vast flocks or ' stands '" visit the coasts from 



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