GOLDEN PLOVER, CURLEW, GRAY PLOVER. 103 



handsome bird, and neither the woods, the fields, 

 nor the waters of the American continent supply 

 a more delicious repast than is afforded by a 

 dish of these rich and delicate birds. They 

 winter upon the great plains of Mexico and 

 Texas, upon both banks of the Rio Grande, and 

 are in large numbers, though not so numerous 

 as the golden plover and curlew. The upland 

 plover is the last of the spring migrants from the 

 south, and when it is seen with us we may 

 safely predict that there will be no more cold 

 weather. Its arrival in the prairie States is 

 generally ten days later than that of the first 

 of the united flocks of golden plover and cur- 

 lew. While it lingers longer in the south than 

 they, there is a corresponding difference in the 

 limits of its visits to the north. They go on 

 to higher latitudes to breed, after having stayed 

 about a month with us. The upland plover 

 breeds with us, though many, no doubt, go far 

 north of Illinois to do so. Indeed, it is found 

 in the summer in Minnesota, and Manitoba, in the 

 British Territory. The upland plover makes a soft, 

 whistling noise when put up, reminding one of Burns's 



" Full-toned plover gray, 

 Wild whistliug o'er the hill." 



