THE GOLDEN PLOVER 241 
books, might be forgiven for setting down the two forms of the 
bird as distinct species. 
In the hilly districts of the north of Europe, Golden Plovers are 
numerous, sometimes being, with Ptarmigans, the only birds which 
relieve the solitude of the desolate wastes. Though numerous in 
the same localities, they are not gregarious during spring and 
summer, and are remarkable for their fearlessness of man. So 
tame, indeed, are they that, in little-frequented places, when dis- 
turbed by the traveller they will run along the stony ground a few 
yards in front of him, then fly a few yards, then stand and stare 
and run along as before. On such occasions they frequently utter 
their singular cry—the note so often referred to in Sir Walter Scott’s 
poems—which, like the Nightingale’s song, is considered simply 
plaintive or painfully woe-begone, according to the natural tem- 
perament or occasional mood of the hearer. This bird builds no 
nest; a natural depression in the ground, unprotected by bush, 
heather or rock, serves its purpose, and here the female lays four 
eggs, much pointed at one end, and arranges them in accordance 
with this. 
At the approach of autumn, no matter where their summer may 
have been passed, Plovers migrate southwards in large flights, 
those from Scotland to the southern counties of England, where 
they frequent wide moist pastures, heaths, and reclaimed marsh- 
land. From the northern parts of the continent of Europe they 
take their departure in October, either to the European shores of 
the Mediterranean, or to the plains of Northern Africa. In these 
migrations they are not unfrequently joined by Starlings. They 
travel in close array, forming large flocks much wider than deep, 
moving their sharp wings rapidly, and making a whizzing sound 
which may be heard a long way off. Now and then, as if actuated 
by a single impulse, they sweep towards the ground, suddenly alter 
the direction of their flight, then wheel upwards with the regularity 
of a machine, and either alight or pursue their onward course. 
This habit of skimming along the ground and announcing their 
approach beforehand, is turned to good purpose by the bird-catcher, 
who imitates their note, attracts the whole flight to sweep down 
into his neighbourhood, and captures them in his net, a hundred 
at a time, or, when they are within range, has no difficulty in killing 
from twelve to twenty at a shot. Not unfrequently, too, when 
some members of a flock have been killed or wounded, the remainder, 
before they remove out of danger, wheel round and sweep just over 
the heads of their ill-fated companions, as if for the purpose of 
inquiring the reason why they have deserted the party, or of alluring 
them to join it once more. This habit is not peculiar to Plovers, 
but may be noticed in the case of several of the seaside waders, 
as Dunlins and Sanderlings. In severe winter weather they desert 
the meadows, in which the worms have descended into the ground 
B.B. R 
