JIQ SHOOTING. 



^lio-Mly margined at the tip with gray. The tail is dusky, spotted 

 vin'th yellow, and of a dull white hue. The legs are blacK. ^ 



The golden plover is very common in this country, and mdeed 

 in ahnost all the other countries in Europe. In America it is very 

 numerous, from Hudson's Bay as far as Carolma, migratmg Irom 

 one locality to another, accordmg to the seasons that produce its 

 food. The male and female are very nearly ahke m size and 

 piumao-e In young birds the yellow spots are not very prominent, 

 as the plumage at this period of their growth incluies more to a 



^^These plovers used formerly to be killed in great quantities by 

 means of a stalking horse. If you fire at these birds as they liy 

 over you, they will dart down for the moment, and spread in every 

 direction ; so that bv taking a random shot with your first barrel, 

 you may often bring down the hiids to a fan: one for the second. 



The Gra?/ Plover (Trmga Sqmtarola, Linn.)— Authors and sports- 

 men differ in then: classification of this bird ; some making it a 

 lapwing, and some a species of sand-piper. It is about eleven or 

 twelve inches long, and varies from twenty-four to twenty-iive 

 broad. Its general weight is about seven ounces, its bill is 

 black : the head, back, and wing-coverts, are of a dull dusky brown, 

 edo-ed with greenish ash-colour, and some with white. The cheeks 

 and throat are white, and marked with oblong dusky spots. _ The 

 belly, sides, and rump, are white, the sides being marked with a 

 few scattered dusky spots. The outer web of the quills are: 

 black ; and the lower parts of the inner webs of the first lour are; 

 wliite. The feathers of the tail are marked with alternate bars of 

 black and white. The legs are of a duU green hue, and the hmd 



toe is small. . , t> -x • tj- • 



The gray plover is not very common m (jreat Jintain. it is 

 occasionally met with in large flocks on the sea-coast. Its flesh is 

 esteemed a great delicacy. . ^ ^ i j 



In cold and frosty vreather these birds seek then: food on lands 

 near the sea-shore, and in open weather they frequent ploughed 

 fields, especially if sown with grain. Aft_er feeding they fly tor 

 some watering spot, where they wash their beaks and leet, and 

 seem to delight themselves much in this habit. In the night-tune 

 thev run up and down, feeding on the worms which are then out 

 of the ground, and of which they devour a great quantity. Mr. 

 Daniel says that " at this time they always make a small cry, as if 

 to keep their flock together till day-break, when they mute and fly 

 to the coast. They are sometimes taken m nets at then- first coming, 

 and the fowler is cautious to set his nets to play with tlie wind. 

 Eor instance, when the wind is easterly, they may fly Avesterly. 

 The north-west is the worst wmd to take them ; all sea-fowl fly 

 against the wmd whenever they design to rest on the land. The 

 preferable places for setting the nets are in large common fields of 

 green corn, and near to water. Their flesh is very delicate. In 

 Carolina they ai'e seen in the valleys, near the mountams, m great 



