Vol. XXVII 

 1910 



J Henshaw, Mijrathn of the Pacific Plover. 251 



I believe that when not fatigued the plover can easily enough fly 

 50 to 75 miles an hour, but it is doubtful if such speed can be 

 maintained for any great length of time. I am confident, however, 

 that a speed of 40 miles an hour is well within the bird's powers. 

 At this rate the flight from Hawaii to the Aleutians, a distance of 

 about 2000 miles, would consume a little more than two days; or, 

 allowing a speed of 35 miles an hour, the time occupied would be 

 two days, 9 hours. At first thought it does not seem possible for 

 plover to fly continuously for so many hours without rest and food ; 

 yet the above statement cannot be far from the truth. If the 

 birds fly faster, the journey requires less time but the expenditure of 

 more vital force; if, slower, they husband strength at the cost of 

 time. In either event the result would be about the same. Of 

 the extreme limit of the plover's endurance in continuous flight 

 we know nothing; nor do we know what proportion of the birds 

 that start across the ocean are successful in making the flight. 

 That the effoBt is too much for many individuals is hardly to be 

 doubted, especially for young of the year, which are comparatively 

 weak and unpractised of wing. 



A leaf from the notebook of Dr. E. A. Mearns is of interest in this 

 connection. On the 9th of October, when on a transport bound 

 for San Francisco, and one day out of Honolulu, Mearns noticed 

 a lone plover, which joined company with the ship for nearly two 

 days. On the 10th his note book records that the bird was still 

 circling around and above the ship, as if designing to come aboard. 

 Sometimes it flew close alongside and whistled plaintively. Once 

 it rose very high in air and flew out of sight, probably trying to sight 

 land on which to rest, but it soon returned from its fruitless quest. 

 At 5 p. J\r. on the 10th it seemed weak and tired, but Avas still flying 

 feebly alongside, its call notes continually growing fainter with 

 waning strength. It was lost sight of at dusk, and was never seen 

 again, but its fate is only too certain. 



It may seem remarkable that this tired wanderer apparently 

 never alighted on the water to rest. However, I recall only one 

 instance in which an unwounded plover has been known to alight 

 on the water and again take wing.' In considering this question it 



1 Rothschild, Avifauna of Laysan, pt. 1, xiv, 1893. 



