THE GOLDEN PLOVER 199 



Plovers feed on the various marine animals which are cast 

 up by the waves, or lurk in the mud and ooze of the low- 

 lying shores. 



If you wish to find the Golden Plover's nest you must 

 delay your visits to its breeding grounds until the middle of 

 May, and if the season is a late one, a week later still. You 

 may soon ascertain if the birds have begun to lay by their move- 

 ments when you approach their haunts. They are exception- 

 ally tame, and as a rule the male birds alone come first before 

 your notice. Like watchful sentinels, they stand on the little 

 knolls and give the single plaintive warning -note to their 

 mates. If approached they often run a short distance, then 

 mayhap take wing and wheel round your head, then alight 

 on an adjoining mound and stand and watch your movements. 

 While your attention is confined to the male bird, the female 

 has already slipped off her nest at the first warning cry and 

 soon joins him. You may then be sure the eggs are laid and 

 not very far away. Search carefully amongst the tufts of 

 cotton grass, or beneath the shelter of any little prominent 

 tuft of vegetation, and you will soon be rewarded by a sight 

 of the Plover's home. It is but a simple little affair just a 

 hollow lined with a few bits of withered herbage, but beauti- 

 fully smooth and round. In this the female lays her four 

 richly - coloured, handsome, pear-shaped eggs. They are 

 remarkably large for the size of the bird, very similar to those 

 of the Lapwing, but much brighter looking and richer in 

 colour. The ground colour is more inclined to buff than 

 olive, and the markings are deeper brown and larger Yuu. 

 will observe that these eggs are most protectively coloured, 

 and are very inconspicuous on the moorland waste. The 

 parent birds know this full well, and the instant danger 

 threatens they leave them to the safety their brown tints 

 ensure. As soon as the young are hatched the parents 

 become even more anxious for their safety, and often reel and 



