358 THE PLOVERS 



of the equator on the African coasts, and a few hence and they will 

 be north of the Arctic Circle. There the nesting season is short and 

 sharp, and before August is far advanced their young families will be 

 taking that first journey southwards, unguided if the migration 

 investigations have fully penetrated their mysteries by any birds that 

 have made the journey before. 



The golden-plover breeds commonly in the Faeroes and also in 

 Iceland, throughout Scandinavia, North Russia, and North Germany. 

 It may breed in East Greenland, as a bird in breeding plumage was 

 shot there in 1871. l In the Arctic, its breeding range appears to lie 

 to the west of that of the grey-plover. The two species overlap a 

 little, as Harvie-Brown and Seebohm found the golden-plover nesting 

 on the tundras by the Petchora, 2 and Seebohm found it near the 

 mouth of the Yenisei, but here the eastern golden-plover (Charadrius 

 dominicus fulvus) is far more numerous, and takes the place of our 

 bird in Asia and Alaska. In its turn this is replaced in America 

 by a closely allied race (C. dominicus dominicus). Odd specimens 

 of these two races of the smaller species have found their way 

 to Great Britain. In winter the golden - plover visits Central 

 and Southern Europe and France, and also the northern part of 

 Africa. 



As early as February golden-plovers begin to take to the moors, 

 going direct to their old nesting-places which may be on heather- 

 covered moorlands, grassy hillsides, or in marshy places but little 

 above sea-level and early in March most of our resident birds have 

 settled down in pairs. As there is a general southward movement in 

 winter, it follows that the breeding birds almost invariably approach 

 their nesting-places from the south, some from overseas, but many 

 from our own southern counties. As late as May there are still flocks 

 of golden-plovers, especially in the northern half of our islands. These 

 are birds that nest in the far north, and whose nesting season is there- 

 fore much later. Many a pair of British birds have eggs, and even 



1 Yarrell, British Birds, iii. 276. 2 Ibis, 1876, p. 222. 



