GOLDEN PLOVEE. 3 



miniature valleys than eIse\Yhere ; but since in such instances the nest has been 

 betrayed mostly by the bird flying off" the eggs, it is probable that my success has 

 been due to the ease with which, in these places, an approacli can be made 

 unperceived. The Golden Plover is by no means a close sitter, often flying or 

 running from the nest when an intruder is fully a hundred yards distant. Owing 

 to the shyness of the birds, and to the difficulty of observing them closely and 

 constantly in their breeding haunts, facts bearing upon their habits in the summer 

 season we not easy to gather. During the last eleven years I have scarcely been 

 able to add anything to a note written in 1864 : — ' In Mr. Newman's useful little 

 book, " Bii'ds' Nesting " (p. 34), the materials of the nest are spoken of as 

 " scarcely any, — a few fragments of heather and dried grasses carelessly scraped 

 together ; " and on referring to my note-books, I find that those very words might 

 well have been applied to eleven out of the fifteen nests of this species (Golden 

 Plover) therein described. Occasionally, however, and particularly during the 

 first few weeks of the breeding season, the nest is constructed with more 

 than ordinary care, and then consists of a deep saucer-shaped cavity, thickly and 

 compactly lined with the above-mentioned materials, measuring between five and 

 six inches across. It is almost invariably situated among moss or heather, 

 sometimes by the side of a stone or upon some slight eminence, where there is 

 sufficient growth to aff"ord concealment. 



" ' The only opportunity which has fallen to my lot of observing the length of 

 time occupied by incubation occurred three years ago. About noon on the 

 7th of May I found four warm eggs, and on blowing one, ascertained that it was 

 perfectly fresh. I afterwards visited the nest almost daily, and on the evening of 

 the 23rd, observed that two of the remaining three eggs were already broken by 

 the chicks. Next morning, on my approaching the nest, three young birds, 

 mottled grey and yellow, ran out of the neighbouring heather ; there was no 

 appearance of broken shells in or near the nest. I have never known the male 

 take any part in the task of incubation, although he is very attentive to his mate, 

 and constantly supplies her with food Avhile she is sitting ; but both birds are so 

 shy that, at such times, their habits can be witnessed only by means of long and 

 patient watching from some good hiding-place, such as a large stone or the deep 

 channel of a burn. While the female is sitting the male takes his station upon 

 some eminence near the nest, giving warning by bis loud peculiar whistle the 

 moment an intruder appears.' 



" Unlike the old birds, the unfiedged young ones conceal themselves by 

 sitting close to the ground among moss and heather, and are then most difficult 

 to discover ; when, however, they are compelled to attempt other means of escape, 



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