LIMICOLyE. ( 221 ) CHARADRIID^. 



THE GOLDEN PLOVER. 



YELLOW PLOVER, WHISTLING PLOVER, GREY PLOVER,^ 



Charadrius pluvialis. 

 %^z piiticr, %\yz ^lutjcc* 



From the shore 

 The Plovers . . . scatter o'er the heath. 

 And sing their wild notes to the listening waste. 



Thomson, Spring, 



The Golden Plover is plentiful on the Lammermuirs in 

 spring, summer, and the early part of autumn, when its 

 plaintive note gives an additional charm to the wild 

 scenery of the hills. 



In October and November great flocks^ may be seen 

 associated with Peewits on the grass fields in certain parts 

 of the Merse — the neighbourhood of Whitsomehill in the 

 parish of Whitsome, and Whitelaw in the parish of Edrom, 

 being two favourite localities. When the flocks take wing 

 the Golden Plovers are generally mixed with their con- 

 geners for a short while, but they soon use their long, 

 curved, sharp-pointed wings in rapid flight, and, separating 

 from their slow companions, mount high in the air, where 

 they wheel round and round, occasionally uttering their 

 well-known note, and again alight in the field from whence 



1 The Golden Plover is sometimes called the Grey Plover, from its grey colour 

 when at a distance. The true Grey Plover is Squatarola helvetica. 



2 It is probable that our native Golden Plovers receive additions to their 

 numbers in autumn in the shape of immigrants from the north of Europe ; for at 

 that season great ilocks are seen passing over Heligoland and the lighthouses on 

 the coasts of this country. 



