GAME BIRDS, GULLS, ETC. 20T 
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night, 
Till the foul crimes done in their days of nature 
Are burnt and purged away. 
Seldom is it seen, but often heard, and many, no 
doubt, are familiar enough with its wailing, melan- 
choly note who are quite ignorant of the source 
whence it proceeds. 
The eyes of the great plover are well adapted to 
perform their duties during its nocturnal wanderings, 
and to detect the slugs, worms, and insects which 
prefer darkness to day; and these the bird devours 
in great quantities. Not uncommonly, too, it feeds 
during the daytime, turning over stones, &c., with its 
beak, and capturing the various small creatures which 
have taken refuge beneath them. At such times, how- 
ever, it keeps itself carefully concealed, and is gene- 
rally to be seen at work only by the merest accident. 
The great plover seems to entertain a very decided 
objection to enclosed ground, and is usually found 
only in the open country, where it can travel for long 
distances without taking to flight. As a general rule, 
it trusts to its legs rather than to its wings, and, when 
it does take to flight, almost invariably keeps near 
the ground for some little time after rising into the air. 
In an average season this curious bird is with us for 
less than half the year, arriving in April, and taking 
its departure towards the middle of September. Soon 
after its arrival it turns its attention to domestic 
affairs, and lays two eggs in some depression in 
the ground, which cannot by any stretch of imagina- 
tion be called a nest. These eggs are of a rather 
