Minor British Game Birds. 149 



young descend from the uplands where the 

 latter are bred, and seek out the mud-banks and 

 ooze-flats on which to spend the winter. . Flashy 

 meadows and marshes are also favourite feeding 

 grounds ; and here the lapwing makes " game " 

 for an army of gunners. The vast flocks of 

 plovers that congregate in autumn are said to be 

 growing in numbers. Hundreds of thousands of 

 eggs are collected annually ; bunches of green 

 plover are displayed at the gameshops during 

 the autumn; and yet there are more of these 

 birds in England than ever there were. This 

 may be accounted for by the closeness with 

 which the plover conforms to its environment 

 through every season. The plover is dainty 

 eating, as are also its eggs. " To live like a 

 plover " meaning to live on the wind is a 

 saying of no aptitude. All the species are 

 voracious feeders on substantial. Their chief 

 food consists of insects and worms from ploughed 

 land ; but immediately upon the setting in of 

 frost they betake themselves to the mosses and 

 marshes, or even to the coast and estuaries of 

 rivers- Here they feed liberally and at large, 

 becoming plump and fat. On these grounds 

 the birds often remain till the return of spring. 

 Although many are shot, most of the birds that 

 find their way to market are taken in nets by 

 professional fowlers. When the flocks are 

 heaviest, and during hard weather, from fifty to 



