.. 1 



CHARAPRIAD.E. 



CHARADRIAD.K. 



tfc reigne of our soveraigne lord king Henry VIII.," we find in the 

 MOood ooune, " lima, plover, 8 of a diah," and among th charge*. 

 Item, in plover, 3 do., 5." In the charge of the said Sir John 

 Nevile, at Lammas Assues, twentieth of Henry VIII., we also find 

 "Item, dot. plover*, 12." Four hundred plover* appear among 

 " the goodly proviaion " at the introniiation of Oeorge Nevell, arch- 

 bishop of York, in the reign of Edward IV. Drayton, in hi. ' Poly- 

 albion,' make* Lyndsey boast that her " fowle more ayne are than 

 thoM of Holland (Lincolnshire) ; 



" And mke flne tplriu and blood ; 

 For aeere thli batnln* Mr, in me U to be aeene, 

 More Ihmn on any earth, the plover grey and grttnc." 



There U evidence of the presence of the Golden Plover in each of 

 the four quarter* of the globe. Mr. Gould indeed, in his observations 

 on the geographical distribution of the specie* collected by Mr. Keith 

 Abbot in the neighbourhood of Trebizond, notice* the bird as inhabit- 

 ing Europe, and the adjoining portions of Africa and Asia, but not 

 America. (' Zool. Proc.,' 1834.) Now Temminck expressly says that 

 the specie* i* the same in America and Asia. Sabine also O' : "' r :- 

 ' First Voyage') makes Wilson's C. apricaritu and the Golden I'l .v, . 

 identical, and states that it breeds in the swampy parts of the North 

 Georgian Island* in considerable abundance. Richardson states that 

 the breeding-quarters of this well-known bird are the Barren Grounds 

 and the coasts and islands of the Arctic Sea. " It hatches," he says, 

 " early in June, and retires southward in August Numbers linger on 

 the muddy shores of Hudson's Bay and on the sandy beaches of rivers 

 and lakes in the interior until the hard frosts of September and 

 October drive them away. At this period they are very fat, and are 

 highly prized by the epicures of the Fur Countries. They make but a 

 abort stay in Pennsylvania, and are said to winter beyond the United 

 States." (' Fauna Boreali-Ainericana.') 



Captain Sir James Ron, R.N., notices it as abundant during the 

 breeding season in most parts of the arctic regions, and he found them 

 plentifully in the neighbourhood of Felix Harbour, feeding in the 

 marshes in company with C. ftmipalmalut (American Ring-Plover). 

 (Sir John Ross's Second Voyage.') Nuttall remarks that the bird is, 

 according to the season of the year, met with in almost every part of 

 the world, particularly in Asia and Europe, from Kamtchatka to 

 China, as well as in the South Sea Islands, and from Arctic America, 

 where it breeds, to the Falkland Inland*. The Prince of Canino 

 (' Birds of Europe and North America') appears, on th other hand, 

 to agree with Mr. Gould, for the Prince makes the American analogue 

 of C. pluvialit. Linn., U. Virginiacut, Borkh. (C. plurialu, Wils.) ; and 

 Colonel Sykes notes it among the birds of the Deccan, and as identical 

 with Javanese specimens, smaller indeed than one North American 

 specimen and two English specimens in the British Museum, but 

 absolutely identical with other British specimens. He says that it is 

 rare in the Deccan, and appears only in the cold weather. In the 

 stomach he found beetles, land-insects, and coarse sand. ('Zool. 

 Proc.,' 1882.) It appears among the list of birds seen in Japan by 

 Dr. Von Siebold and M. Burger ; and Temminck states that those 

 killed there did not differ essentially from those of Europe. Mr. 

 Selby allows a wide geographical range to it, though not to the extent 

 supposed by many naturalists, the birds which have been considered 

 by them as belonging to this species being of a different one, namely, 

 C. marmoralut of Wagler. Instead therefore of extending the range 

 of the Golden Plover to America, Australia, and other parts of 

 the southern hemisphere, he feel* inclined to limit it to Europe, 

 Northern Asia, and some few districts in the north of Africa, (' British 

 Ornithology.') 



C. itorintUiu, Linn., the Dotterel It U Eiulromia* Morindla, Boie ; 

 S. lioriiutta Montana ct itotida, Brehm, according to Temminc k. 



This bird in it* winter plumage has the top of the head and occiput 

 blackish-ash ; Urge eyebrows of reddish-white uniting on the occiput ; 

 face white, dotted with black ; upper parts blackish-ash tinged with 

 greenish, all the feathers of those parts framed as it were with ruddy 

 colour ; breast and sides reddish-ash ; the large patch on the breast 

 and the middle of the belly pure white ; shaft of the first .|uill white, 

 except towards the end, tail terminated with white ; bill black ; iris 

 brown ; feet greenish-ash. Length more than 8 inches. 



The young have the tints more ashy ; top of the head reddish or 

 rusty, varied with longitudinal spots ; the ruddy colour which frames 

 as it were the feathers of the upper parts less vivid ; tail terminated 

 with bright ruddy. 



In their summer or nuptial plumage the very old male lias the face 

 and eyebrows very pure white; summit of the head and occiput 

 blackish ; nape and sides of the neck ashy ; feathers of the mantle and 

 wings bordered with very deep ruddy ; on the breast a narrow brown 

 band, succeeded by a large white cincture ; part below the breast and 

 sides very bright ruddy ; middle of the belly deep black ; abdomen 

 reddish-white. The female is of a ruddy colour on the sides often 

 clouded with ash-colour ; black spot of the middle of the belly leas 

 apparent than in the male, or varied with white feathers. 



This is the 1'luvier Guignard and Pluvier Solitaire of the French ; 

 Pivire de Corrione and Piviere Tortolino of the Italians ; Dor Dumme 

 Kegrapfeifer of the Germans ; Dotterel, Dottersll, and Dottrel! of the 

 British, and Hullan of the Welsh. 



Drayton sings, of this bird 



" The Dotterell, which we think a Terr dainty dlrh, 

 Who** taking make* rath (port man no more can wiih ; 

 For aa TOO creep*, or eowre, or lye, or itonpe, or goe, 

 80 marking you (with care) the apth bird doth doe, 

 And acting everything, doth nvr mark the net, 

 Till he be in the anare which men for him have art." 



Poets have a right to a little licence, and in many of the older prose 

 writers a similar account of the silly mimicry of the bird is - 



" The Dotterel," say* Mr. Selby, " has always been considered a stupid 

 bird, but for what reason I cannot conceive. I allow that, on its lir.-t 



arrival, it shows. but little fear of man, but this, I SBprtlund, . 

 more from inexperience of persecution in ita native wilds than from 

 any other cause, and which appears evident from the birds, when 

 harassed and repeatedly fired at, soon becoming too cautious to admit 

 of near approach any longer. Their habits also contribute to r- 

 them unwary, for being nocturnal feeder* (like many others of the 

 Ckaradnada), they are at rest and asleep during the greater pnrt. of 

 the day, in which state also the Golden Plover (a wary bird \\lnn 

 roused) will frequently admit of a close approach. As to the story of 

 the Dotterel mimicking the actions of the fowler, by stretching out iU 

 leg, wing, or head, when he sets the example, it, without doubt, arose 

 from the motions that they as well as other birds usually and most 

 naturally make when roused from a state of repose ; and which every 

 one who attends to the habits of the feathered race must (in flocks of 

 K'ulls, plovers, tringas, Ac.) have frequently observed." The food con- 

 sist* principally of insects, slugs, and worms. For a long time it was 

 doubted whether the Dotterel bred in this country, but these doubts 

 are now removed, as the reader will find in the next paragraph. The 

 rude nest is formed of lichen* or mows, and the three or four lustreless 

 olive-coloured eggs are sprinkled with large dote and numerous spots 

 of deep brown-olive. 



Mr. Selby notices the Dotterel as particularly abundant in Northern 

 Asia and the eastern parts of Europe, and aa inhabiting Siberia and 

 the vast steppes of Tartary, frequently living in the vicinity "t tin- 

 salt lakes and marshes of that open region. He adds, that it is also 

 found, during its winter migration, in Italy and Spain, and that the 

 great body of these birds retires to the high latitudes of Northern 

 Asia, Russia, and Lapland Alps to breed ; but the flocks which 

 pass along the eastern coast of our island are supposed to limit 

 their flight to the upland districts and mountains of Sweden and 

 Norway. Teminiuck states that it breeds in the north of Russia ; 

 also in Norway on the great bare plateaux of the mountains, and in 

 no great number on the high mountains of Bohemia and Silesia at an 

 elevation of from 4500 to 4800 feet In this country, Sussex, Hump- 

 shire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, 

 Yorkshire, and Northumberland possess it Dr. Latham states that 

 in the elevated district of Braemar, Aberdeenshire, these birds hatch 

 their young on dry mossy ground near to and on the very summits of 

 the highest parts, sometimes in the tufts of little short heather >r 

 moss. The female sits three weeks, and the young appear about the 

 middle of July. Mr. Yarrell exhibited eggs of this bird, belonging to 



difficult to obtain, that we only know one collector who poa 

 them. They are one inch eight lines long, by one inch two lines and 

 a half in breadth, light olive-brown blotched and spotted with black : 

 these specimens were procured from the Grampian Hill"." 



Dotterel (Charadriiu Ifortnelltu), In nuptial plumage. 

 They are excellent for the table when in season. NmiiWs are 

 shot near Cambridge and Roystou during their spring mip 

 We find ' Dotrels ' charged at one penny each, a considerable mini in 

 those days, in the 'Northuinnirrhuid Hmi-i ln.M Hook,' and enume- 

 rated among the birds admitted to the high (his lordship's) table. 

 They now find a ready sale in the London market at about six shillings 

 a couple. 



