GOLDEN PLOVER. 253 



of the sounds sure to catch the ear of the wandering naturalist, 

 and make him hesitate in prolonging the intrusion of his presence 

 on their solitudes. The birds themselves seem bewildered as they 

 turn round inquiringly on some little eminence to watch his 

 movements. Sometimes, especially in little frequented tracts, they 

 admit of a very near approach. On some of the Hebridean moors I 

 have frequently seen small numbers of male birds quietly occupy- 

 ing heathery knolls near the main road, at a short distance from 

 their sitting mates, and trying, when put up, to allure me from 

 their haunts by running along the road in front of the conveyance 

 I was travelling in. On the hill ranges of the mainland, their 

 usual breeding haunts are bare platforms about midway between 

 the base and the highest shoulder, but in some instances they 

 choose even the summit of the range. There is a plover haunt in 

 the vicinity of the Eaglesham moors, which partly overlooks the 

 city of Glasgow, From this range of hills a varied and extensive 

 prospect may in clear weather be obtained the densely crowded 

 city, and adjoining towns and villages on the one hand, and the 

 firth of Clyde, including Arran, Ailsa Craig, and the Irish coast 

 on the other. On this heath-covered eminence small companies 

 hatch every year, and in severe winters I have seen moderately 

 large flocks descend from their moorland haunts, and alight on 

 the fallow grounds in the immediate neighbourhood of Glasgow. 

 Mr Harvie Brown informs me that in Sutherlandshire they never 

 breed among the heather, but seem to prefer places, at no great 

 elevation, which have been cleared by burning, especially the dry 

 and stony spots. It would almost seem as if this Plover selects 

 lower breeding stations as we proceed northwards. In Iceland, 

 according to the Eev. G. Landt, it " frequents chiefly the unculti- 

 vated fields, where it lays its eggs among the grass," while the 

 nearly allied American bird, as we are informed by Sir John 

 Richardson, takes up its breeding quarters on the " barren grounds, 

 coasts, and islands of the Arctic Sea." * 



* In connection with the breeding haunts of this bird, it may not be unworthy 

 of note that the late Mr Yarrell fell into a mistake while quoting from Don's 

 " List of the Fauna and Flora of Forfarshire," in supposing that it formed an 

 appendix to Lightfoot's Flora Scotica. The last-named work was published in 

 1777, and the " Caledonian Zoology " prefixed to it was, as is mentioned by the 

 author in his preface, written by Mr Pennant. Don's list was appended to 

 Headrick's "View of the Agriculture of Forfarshire," published in 1813 a 

 work which is now eagerly sought after by local faunists. 



