228 CHAKADEIID^ 



to follow them several hundred yards from where their 

 little downy treasures are crouching low. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, this species breeds 

 in Central and Northern Europe, including Iceland, while 

 on the Asiatic Continent it can be traced to Western Siberia, 

 the true Eastern representative being the Lesser Golden 

 Plover (Asiatic form). 



Our Golden Plover also breeds in Greenland, but in 

 North America its place is taken by the Lesser Golden 

 Plover (American form). 



On its southern migration in autumn and winter, the 

 Golden Plover is distributed over the European Continent, 

 as well as over South-west Asia ; wanderers reach South 

 Africa. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Forehead and stripe 

 over the eye, white ; top of head, hind-neck, back, scapulars, 

 and wings, beautifully mottled with rich golden-yellow on 

 a blackish ground ; primaries, dark brown ; axillaries, white ; 

 tail, barred with brown and yellow ; cheeks, chin, throat, 

 front of neck, breast, and abdomen, black ; flanks and side 

 of neck, edged with a white line, continuous with the stripe 

 over the eye. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar to the male plumage, 

 except that the black on the breast and abdomen is less 

 developed, and is broken up into patches. 



Adult winter, male and female. The black feathers 

 are for the most part replaced by white, but the cheeks, 

 sides of neck, and breast, are mottled brown and golden- 

 yellow ; the yellow mottlings of the head, hind-neck, back, 

 scapulars, and wings, are more marked than in the nuptial 

 plumage. 



Immature, male and female. Resembles the adult winter 

 plumage, but the ground-colour of the top of the head is 

 blacker and the flanks are more mottled with dusky-brown 

 and white, while the rest of the plumage, except in the 

 region of the abdomen and throat, is profusely speckled 

 with golden-yellow spots on a brown ground-colour. 



BEAK. Blackish-brown. 



FEET. Blackish. 



IRIDES. Blackish-brown. 



