PLOVER SHOOTING. 211 



In frosty weather plover shooting becomes a 

 different affair altogether. The birds then 

 desert their customary haunts, and frequent the 

 low lands and the creeks for food. It is re- 

 markable that for years, for as far back as the 

 oldest poacher can remember, these birds will 

 seek not only the same district, but the same 

 fields that they have been known to patronize. 

 At this time you must either possess yourself of 

 a " call," or, better still, learn the art of calling 

 for yourself. You see a dim speck in the air, 

 which, after watching for a while, you note is 

 moving and growing larger. This is the 

 " stand" of golden plover. Presently a thin 

 querulous pipe, a note which seems to come 

 from the clouds, is heard. You must be able 

 to reply to this in the language of plover. The 

 birds are, in fact, inquiring if all is safe ; should 

 you be accomplished enough to give the right 

 password a loud shrill whistle of a tone and 

 a semitone the piping approaches nearer and 

 nearer, always waiting for the reply, until, 

 at least if you have operated like an adept, 

 down with a sudden swoop come the birds, and 

 you avail yourself as best you can of the 



p 2 



