360 THE PLOVERS 



a good distance apart, although often not far from those of the curlew 

 or lapwing. The nest is a scraped hollow, either in a tussock of grass, 

 among heather, or on a bare place. It is lined with a few pieces of 

 dead grass, moss, or any convenient material. The amount of lining 

 depends on the situation ; in some nests there is so much as to consti- 

 tute a well-constructed nest. Like other Waders that breed also on 

 the fells and tundras of the north, it makes use in those localities of 

 the reindeer-lichen. 



The nest of the grey-plover is described as a deeper cup than 

 that of the golden ; the lining sometimes consists of a few broken 

 twigs and leaves from the surrounding plants, or more usually broken 

 grass and reindeer-lichen, but in such small quantities that it can 

 hardly be regarded as extraneous lining, but simply that which was 

 on the spot when the hollow was formed. Harvie-Brown and See- 

 bohm found the grey-plover nesting on the higher and drier ridges in 

 very boggy ground, while the golden-plover preferred the higher 

 tundras. 1 In general nesting-habits the two species are very similar, 

 the golden being, as a rule, shyer at the nest, but even this depends 

 on circumstances. 



On the average the eggs of the grey-plover are decidedly larger 

 than those of the lapwing and slightly bigger than those of the golden- 

 plover, but in shape and character they resemble them, though as a 

 rule the ground-colour tends to rather a colder shade than is usual 

 with the golden-plover, the rather small spots and blotches of deep 

 black being placed upon a stone-coloured or olivaceous buff ground. 

 Average size of 12 eggs, 2'04 x T45 in. [52 x 37 mm.]. 2 



While it is quite certain that the male assists in incubation, it is 

 not by any means easy to say to what extent. Dr. Heatherley, who 

 watched at a golden-plover's nest in Wales, on and off for several 

 hours a day, from May 12th to June 3rd, never once saw the male ; 

 he presumed that the bird he did see was the female. She came 

 readily to the nest whilst he was concealed in a hiding-tent a few 



1 Ibis, 1876, p. 222. * F. C. B. Jourdain (in litt.). 



