BIRDS MET WITH BY THE WILDFOWLER 331 
CASPIAN PLOVER 
egialophilus astaticus (Pallas) 
The Caspian Sand Plover is a very rare irregular spring 
migrant to the British Isles. 
Two examples of this eastern Plover, which inhabits the 
South Central Palzarctic region, were obtained near Yarmouth 
in May, 1890. | 
It resembles our Common Ringed Plover, but does not 
show the black markings on the head, and the band across the 
breast is bright chestnut, edged along its posterior margin with 
black. Length about 7 in. ; wing 5°6 in. 
GOLDEN PLOVER 
Charadrius pluvialis (Linneus) - 
The home of the Golden Plover is on the lower slopes of 
mountains, and hill-land moors, for the Golden Plover prefers 
the cover afforded by the tall heather. 
As we walk up the hill we first hear his shrill whistle, and 
soon see him coming to meet us. He settles some way ahead 
of us, whistling continuously, but at our approach he flies on 
to some other projecting boulder, and so on for perhaps half 
a mile, till, having accompanied us to the limits of the ground 
over which he claims suzerain rights, he hands us over to the 
ruling chief of the next territory. Thus in a walk over the 
hillside we find one of these birds always travelling with us, 
whose cry is never out of our ears. We have, however, only 
noticed half the game, for the birds that have been accom- 
panying us are almost always male birds ; his duty it is to 
stand on some exposed mound while his hen crouches amid 
the heather on her precious eggs, four pear-shaped beauties, 
the black spots and markings showing up against their green- 
ish ground colour. As soon as any intruder approaches he 
will sound his pipe and fly off towards us, while his mate 
