Song Birds and Water Fowl 
extends far inland and is to be seen along fresh 
water -courses, like the spotted sandpiper. 
The handsomest of the sort is the golden 
plover, and one of the finest game birds. There 
is one almost invariable rule in bird plumage, 
of which the golden plover is an exception. If 
the ordinary student of birds bethinks him- 
self, he will probably be unable to recall a sin- 
gle instance wherein the under side of a bird’s 
body is of a darker color than the upper. A 
few species are of a uniform tint throughout, 
but where upper and under sides are different, 
the latter, almost without exception, is notice- 
ably lighter. Among song birds it is quite 
common for the upper plumage to have various 
rich shades, and the under to be white. The 
golden plover is one of the rare exceptions in 
this respect; and, in full plumage of the breed- 
ing season, it presents a striking appearance in 
its garb of speckled golden yellow above, and 
pure black beneath. Like the plover, the best 
of our other game birds are also in the group of 
water fowl, such as woodcock and snipe, which 
two, however, are only on the border of the 
division. 
As a class, water fowl are much more wary 
than land birds, and one of the most difficult 
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