GOLDEN PLOVER. 479 



Professor Nilsson and Mr. Lloyd mention the Golden 

 Plover as annually visiting Sweden ; Mr. Hewitson saw it 

 in flocks on the cultivated ground in the south-western part 

 of Norway ; Mr. William Christy saw it at Hammerfest, 

 and Linneus mentions having seen plenty during his tour 

 in the Lapland Alps. It goes to the Faroe Islands, to 

 Iceland, and Greenland, every summer ; and was seen on 

 different occasions by the Arctic voyagers from this country 

 as far to the northward and westward as the North Georgian 

 Islands and Felix Harbour. Sir John Richardson, in the 

 Fauna Boreali- Americana, says, " that the breeding quarters 

 of this well-known bird are the barren grounds and the 

 coasts and islands of the Arctic Sea. It hatches early in 

 June, and retires southwards in August. Numbers linger 

 on the muddy shores of Hudson's Bay, and on the sandy 

 beaches of rivers and lakes in the interior, until the hard 

 frosts of September and October drive them away. At 

 this period they are very fat, and are highly prized by the 

 epicures of the fur countries. They make but a short 

 stay in Pennsylvania, and are said to winter beyond the 

 United States." There appears, however, to be some 

 doubt whether the bird which goes so far south as to 

 winter beyond the United States is the true Ch. pluvialis 

 of European naturalists. Sir William Jardine, Bart., in 

 the second volume of his illustrated edition of Wilson's 

 American Ornithology, has given the specific characters of 

 Ch. pluvialis and Ch. virginianus in parallel columns : the 

 distinctions are conspicuous; and Prince Charles Bona- 

 parte has not included the Ch. pluvialis in his published 

 List of the Birds of North America. Two examples of 

 Golden Plover from North America in the Museum of the 

 Zoological Society differ from our British bird, and appear 

 to me to be identical with the Golden Plover found in 

 Asia, to be hereafter referred to. North America may 



