THE ANBIAL LIFE OP THE (4R0rP. 321 



farming lands on the lower levels about all the islands are without native birds 

 of any kind. Fortunately, this is not true of the ponds, marshes, streams and 

 the sea-shore, as the waters of Hawaii are still inhabited by several character- 

 istic forms. Unfortunately, some of the species of the region are now very 

 rare, while others that are more common are of more than usual interest, since 

 they are not met with elsewhere in the world. The majority of the birds 

 belonging to this low-land section, however, are representatives of wide- 

 ranging species that visit Hawaii as a winter resort to escape the rigors of 

 the climate in the far north where most of the shore and water birds repair 

 every summer to nest and rear their young. 



The Golden Plover. 



Conspicuous among the migrants visiting Hawaii each year are the golden 

 plover, the wandering tattler, the lurnstone and the sanderling. A stroll along 

 the sea-shore, especially in the country districts during the winter s?ason, will 

 be rewarded by a sight of one or more flocks of at least some of these species 

 as they follow up the receding waves in search of the dainties that are left 

 strewn on the sand by the sea. Often the plover ^ will be seen in large num- 

 bers, feeding on the upland, where, in the freshly-plowed fields or in the newly- 

 planted cane or on the open grass lands, they find an abundant supply of 

 worms and insects. They doubtless render a great service to the planter and 

 farmer during this season, and are entitled to all the protection they receive in 

 return. 



When the plover arrive at the islands in the autumn, from the sununer 

 spent in the far north, they are usually in poor flesh. But when we think of the 

 long journey they must make over the three thousand miles of ocean without 

 a rest, the wonder is that they do not perish on the way. Just why the plover 

 and all the other migratory birds undertake these wearisome flights across 

 the wild open ocean, it seems must ever remain a mystery. Without doubt, 

 when storms are encountered many must lose their way and go down to watery 

 graves or, thrown from their course, must fly for days over the great dull 

 expanse in search of land. Perhaps it was in some such accidental way that 

 the first plover happened to visit Hawaii in the long ago. Since it doubtless 

 found the islands a pleasant land, it seems almost incredible that a helpless 

 wanderer should ever put to sea again in search of the distant land from 

 whence it came. But the instinct to migrate to the far-away north and rear 

 a brood and return again to these little islands over the sea must have been 

 very strong — strong enough to carry it and its descendants back and forth 

 year after year. Doubtless such is the story of the beginning of the colonies 

 of most, if not all, of the different species of migratory shore and water birds 

 that visit Hawaii each year. 



^Charadriue domivicus fulfils. 



