H4 THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



ORDER IV.-GRALLATORES. 



Family CHARADRIID^:. 



GOLDEN PLOVER (Charadrius pluvialis). A re- 

 gular winter visitor to our open marshy grounds and 

 the banks of the Thames. Flocks generally arrive 

 in November, at which time two or three hundred 

 may be occasionally observed feeding on the fallow 

 lands near Datchet and Slough; and great flocks 

 continue flying over Eton at intervals throughout 

 the winter, until March. 



In cold weather the Golden Plover may be found 

 throughout the two counties, and the Rev. H. Crewe 

 told me that it is particularly common about the low 

 meadows in the vicinity of Drayton Beauchamp in 

 winter ; and it is not rare at Chesham, Cookham, and 

 Risborough. 



Family SCOLOPACID^. 



WOODCOCK (Scolopax rusticold). There is no good 

 Woodcock shooting to be had in either county, 

 although this bird is a regular winter visitor, arriving 

 towards the end of October in small detachments. 



