NORTHERN OCEAN 393 



Plovers,^ commonly called Hawk's Eyes, from their Plover, 

 watchfulness to prevent a near approach when sitting. When 

 these birds are on the wing, they fly very swift and irregular, 

 particularly when single or in small flocks. At Churchill River 

 they are by no means numerous, but I have seen them in such 

 large flocks at York Fort in the Fall of one [428] thousand 

 seven hundred and seventy-three, that Mr. Ferdinand Jacobs 

 then Governor, Mr. Robert Body Surgeon, and myself, killed in 

 one afternoon as many as two men could conveniently carry. 

 They generally feed on insects, and are at all times good eat- 

 ing, but late in the Fall are most excellent. They are by no 

 means equally plentiful in all years ; and at the Northern 

 settlements in the Bay they are not classed with those species 

 of game that add to the general stock of provisions, being 

 only killed as a luxury; but I am informed that at Albany 

 Fort, several barrels of them are annually salted for Winter 

 use, and are esteemed good eating. This bird during Summer 

 resorts to the remotest Northern parts ; for I have seen them 

 at the Copper River, though in those dreary regions only in 

 pairs. The young of those birds always leave their nests as 

 soon as hatched, and when but a few days old run very fast ; 

 at night, or in rainy weather, the old ones call them together, 

 and cover them with their wings, in the same manner as a hen 

 does her chickens. 



Black Gullemots," known in Hudson's Bay by the name Black Guiie- 

 of Sea Pigeons. Those birds frequent the shores of Hudson's "^°^^' 

 Bay and Straits in considerable numbers; but more particularly 

 the Northern parts, where they fly in large flocks ; to the 

 Southward they are only seen in pairs. They are of a fine 

 black, but not glossy, with scarlet legs and feet; and the 



[^ Charadrius dominicus Miiller. Formerly very abundant, as Heame 

 intimates, but now very much reduced in numbers. It breeds about the 

 northern shores of Hudson Bay.] 



['- Cepphus niandti (Mandt). This Guillemot is abundant on Hudson Bay 

 and the neighbouring waters to the northward.] 



