226 CHARADRIIDZ&# 
though the birds were plentiful in the middle of September. 
About the middle of October the numbers are again greatly 
increased by the arrival of adults in winter-plumage. With 
reference to the movements of Golden Plovers, Mr. Walker 
informs me that on the evening of September 18th, 1901, 
he witnessed a flock, at a great height, fly round many times 
before it shot vertically downwards and rested on the slob- 
lands of Dublin Bay, close to where he was lying in ambush. 
The birds immediately huddled together, and sinking their 
heads between their shoulders, assumed a tired attitude. 
They were there in thousands, all very tame, and reluctant 
to use their wings again. He watched them for over an 
hour until darkness set in. All the time they remained 
motionless without feeding. For five consecutive days Mr. 
Walker explored the entire stretch of slob-land which they 
had frequented and found no sign of them. It is lkely 
that the flock only stopped over night to rest before 
journeying southward. 
Fresh arrivals of adult birds begin to appear about the 
middle of October and remain plentiful on the sea-shore 
until about Christmas. Mr. Ussher mentions that with 
continued hard frost or snowy weather, Golden Plovers 
leave Ireland and travel southward. The appearance of 
flocks at Dursey Island on December 8th, 1882, and at 
Cork and Wexford stations, during the week following, all 
birds travelling in a southerly or south-westerly direction, 
affords strong evidence in support of this view (‘ Migration 
Report’). However, considerable numbers of Golden Plovers 
remain in Ireland, and are proportionately more plentiful 
than in Great Britain, where the winters are usually colder. 
It is most interesting to watch a large flock of these birds, 
after performing a series of fantastic aérial evolutions, 
coming to rest on the waste unreclaimed pasturage of the 
lonely hillside, often destitute of other bird-life, save an 
occasional Meadow-Pipit or Stonechat. Simultaneously, 
and with marked precision, the birds alight, and there they 
stand motionless like a lot of decoys, harmonising so com- 
pletely with the surroundings that a casual observer might 
pass them by, or, looking at them, think that they were 
a number of loosely-scattered stones. After a little time 
they may be seen to run towards one another, forming a 
dense pack; then they grow restless, some stretch their 
wings over their backs, others peer anxiously around ; 
presently with one accord they rise and skim away in a 
