GOLDEN PLOVER. 481 



which sounds more like a human note than that of a bird. 

 In some counties this bird is called the Heath Plover. 



In autumn the various broods associate, forming flocks, 

 and together wing their way southwards. They are ob- 

 served in great numbers through the winter on moors, 

 heaths, downs, and large open fields, in most of the south- 

 ern counties, and many resort to the sea-shores. They are 

 excellent birds for the table. 



The Rev. Richard Lubbock, in his Fauna of Norfolk, 

 says of these birds, " A great many are shot in the marshes. 

 The early dawn is the time at which our fen-men seek 

 them ; they then fly about in close bodies, and will pass 

 very near to any one remaining perfectly still. In the 

 middle of the day they are very difficult of access. They 

 seem to divide their time between the marshes and the 

 uplands. If they are in a marsh all day they often move 

 off to a ploughed field just as it is dusk, and vice versa; if 

 upon arable land, they go down to the marsh for the night, 

 and it is truly called pluvialis, from its restlessness before 

 bad weather. A few years back, one day in the end of 

 December, I stood upon an eminence overlooking a level of 

 marshes; the day was beautifully mild and bright. I was 

 struck by the perpetual wheelings, now high, now low, of 

 large flocks of this bird and the Peewit. They were not 

 still for a moment, and yet I could discover no cause of 

 disturbance. Some hours afterwards I went again to the 

 same hill, and found them in the same perturbed state. I 

 was so persuaded that this restlessness was the harbinger 

 of stormy weather, that I wrote a letter excusing myself 

 on that plea from fulfilling an engagement at a distance. 

 The next morning came, calm and mild as the preceding ; 

 the Plovers, however, had all departed, not one was to be 

 seen. About 5 P.M. the wind began to howl, signs of 

 tempest came on, and before morning so much snow 



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