i8o THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



shot the latter by the end of March with the dark 

 feathers already showing plentifully. The Grey I 

 have never shot in full breeding plumage. They 

 are essentially shore birds, and never breed in 

 Ireland.* I once obtained a Grey Plover in July, 

 but it was a disabled bird that could not migrate. 

 My experience shows me that when wild birds are 

 left behind through weakness or wounds, they often 

 do not undergo a change of plumage as much as is 

 usual, and sometimes scarcely at all. I have seen 

 Grey Plover, partially black-breasted, as late as the 

 25th September, and yet without any sign of dark 

 feathers in April. The note of the Grey Plover is 

 commonly a more prolonged and louder whistle 

 than is that of the Golden, but equally plaintive. 

 This I have remarked from keeping both species in 

 captivity. 



I may here note, what every one may not know, 

 namely, that the Grey Plover has a hind toe, which 

 the Golden Plover lacks. This peculiarity is a certain 

 mark whereby to distinguish the two species when 

 immature, as at that period of existence the Grey 

 Plover exhibits yellow, spots on the back and breast, 

 similar to those on the Golden Plover. The Grey 

 Plover in Ireland is a coast bird entirely. I never saw 

 one away from the tide. f It stands a little higher than 



* Those who are interested in the nesting haunts and habits of 

 birds are indebted to Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown, who in a 

 recent work describing their visit to Siberia in the interests of Natural 

 History, have proved by personal observation that the Grey Plover 

 breeds in the great marshy plains bordering the Petchora River. 



f Mr. Harting tells me that this is contrary to his experience in 

 England. He has shot Grey Plovers in the marshes in Lincolnshire, 

 and Huntingdonshire, at least twenty miles from the sea. He adds 

 that this bird is apparently much more frequently met with in England 



