CURLEW AND PLOVER 101 



on the hillside that is, the feathers, legs and 

 skulls evidently the work of some bird of 

 prey, most probably a sparrow-hawk, a some- 

 what rare bird with us ; but an adult cuckoo is 

 just about as large as a female sparrow-hawk. 



Amongst the earliest harbingers of spring is 

 the curlew, whose wild, mournful cry is heard 

 towards the end of March, when the first- 

 comers find their way from the nearer sea lochs 

 to their solitary nesting-places on the foot- 

 hills. Dry knolls and flats at some considerable 

 elevation are generally selected, but they nest 

 likewise in the larger islands of the loch, as 

 Robert Gray tells us is also the case on Loch 

 Lomond. With shortening days and scantier 

 food supplies in autumn or early winter, they 

 depart again to the sea coast. 



Even more plaintive and mournful is the 

 note of the golden plover, frequenting much 

 the same localities. Those who are only 

 acquainted with this beautiful bird in his winter 

 dress will hardly recognise him when he has 

 left the sea shore in his gay nuptial plumage. 

 The sides of the head, the neck, breast and 

 under parts, are all now black ; the upper 

 parts spangled with black, white and gold, and 

 divided by a pure white line from the black 

 beneath. After the breeding season all this 



