52 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Our ninth nest of the Grey Plover wc took on the 12th of July. A 

 stiff warm gale from the east, with occasionally a smart shower of rain, 

 kept the air clear of mosquitoes in the morning. In the afternoon tlie 

 wind fell, and the mosquitoes were as bad as ever ; but we were too busy 

 to heed them much. At eleven we crossed to the tundra. We soon came 

 upon a pair of Grey Plovers, which rose a couple of hundred yards ahead 

 of us, their wings glittering in a gleam of sunshine after a smart shower. 

 These birds have frequently a very curious flight as they rise from the 

 nest, tossing their wings up in the air, reminding one somewhat of the 

 actions of a Tumbler Pigeon. We lay down, as near as we could tell, 

 close to the spot from which they rose, and were somewhat puzzled at their 

 behaviour. The male seemed to be as anxious as, if not more so than, the 

 female, running about as much as she did, continually crying, and often 

 coming very near us, and trying to attract our attention by pretending to 

 be lame. The female rarely uttered a note. We supposed this must have 

 been because one of us Avas too near the nest. Harvie-Brown moved his 

 post of observation after we had spent some time without being able 

 to discover any thing ; and then the female behaved as usual, and I soon 

 marked the position of the nest. We walked straight up to it, and found 

 tlie four eggs chipped ready for hatching. Wc had no difficulty in 

 shooting both birds, and afterwards hatched out two of the eggs, obtaining 

 a couple of good specimens of young in down. 



With a little practice this mode of finding birds^ nests becomes almost 

 a certainty. One has first to be quite sure which is the male and which 

 the female. When the birds are near enough, and one can compare them 

 together, the greater blackness of the breast of the male is sufficient to 

 distinguish him ; but we found that the females varied considerably in this 

 respect, and that it was better to notice the habits of the birds. The 

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

 She generally makes 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 calHng 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, will pass and repass the nest several times before she finally settles 

 upon it. The female rarely remains upon one post of observation long; 

 but the male often remains for ten minutes or more upon one tussock 

 of a ridge, watching the movements of the female. 



We walked some distance before we came upon a second pair; but at 

 length we heard the well-known cry, and got into position. We spent 



