226 CHARADRIID^E 



though the birds were plentiful in the middle of September. 

 About the middle of October the numbers are again greatly 

 increased by the arrival of adults in winter-plumage. With 

 reference to the movements of Golden Plovers, Mr. Walker 

 informs me that on the evening of September 18th, 1901, 

 he witnessed a flock, at a great height, fly round many times 

 before it shot vertically downwards and rested on the slob- 

 lands of Dublin Bay, close to where he was lying in ambush. 

 The birds immediately huddled together, and sinking their 

 heads between their shoulders, assumed a tired attitude. 

 They were there in thousands, all very tame, and reluctant 

 to use their wings again. He watched them for over an 

 hour until darkness set in. All the time they remained 

 motionless without feeding. For five consecutive days Mr. 

 Walker explored the entire stretch of slob-land which they 

 had frequented and found no sign of them. It is likely 

 that the flock only stopped over night to rest before 

 journeying southward. 



Fresh arrivals of adult birds begin to appear about the 

 middle of October and remain plentiful on the sea-shore 

 until about Christmas. Mr. Ussher mentions that with 

 continued hard frost or snowy weather, Golden Plovers 

 leave Ireland and travel southward. The appearance of 

 flocks at Dursey Island on December 8th, 1882, and at 

 Cork and Wexford stations, during the week following, all 

 birds travelling in a southerly or south-westerly direction, 

 affords strong evidence in support of this view (' Migration 

 Report '). However, considerable numbers of Golden Plovers 

 remain in Ireland, and are proportionately more plentiful 

 than in Great Britain, where the winters are usually colder. 

 It is most interesting to watch a large flock of these birds, 

 after performing a series of fantastic aerial evolutions, 

 coming to rest on the waste unreclaimed pasturage of the 

 lonely hillside, often destitute of other bird-life, save an 

 occasional Meadow-Pipit or Stonechat. Simultaneously, 

 and with marked precision, the birds alight, and there they 

 stand motionless like a lot of decoys, harmonising so com- 

 pletely with the surroundings that a casual observer might 

 pass them by, or, looking at them, think that they were 

 a number of loosely-scattered stones. After a little time 

 they may be seen to run towards one another, forming a 

 dense pack ; then they grow restless, some stretch their 

 wings over their backs, others peer anxiously around ; 

 presently with one accord they rise and skim away in a 



