8o BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



of the Wash that vast area of mud, and sand, 

 and salt-marsh, which extends for miles in drear 

 monotony, only enlivened and made endurable by 

 the hordes of wild fowl that congregate upon its 

 treacherous surface. Here, at the end of October, 

 or during the first week in November, the migration 

 of the Golden Plover can be observed in all its 

 strength. Day after day, night after night, I 

 have remarked the passage of this bird, in almost 

 one unbroken stream, flock succeeding flock, so 

 quickly as to form a nearly continuous throng. 

 Upon the sands this Plover often associates with 

 Dunlins, Gray Plovers, Lapwings, and other waders. 

 Great numbers are, or used to be, shot or netted in 

 this district, and sent to inland markets, for their 

 flesh is justly esteemed for its delicacy, ranked by 

 some as second only to that of the Woodcock. 

 Golden Plovers feed and move about a good deal 

 at night, especially by moonlight. Their food, 

 during winter at least, consists of sand-worms and 

 hoppers, molluscs, small seeds, and so on. The 

 whistle of this Plover is one of the most attractive 

 sounds of the mud-flats and salt-marshes. It may, 

 under suitable atmospheric conditions, be heard for 

 a long distance across the wastes, and sounds 

 something like klee-wee, occasionally prolonged into 

 klee-ee-wee. This note is uttered both while the 

 bird is on the ground and in the air. In the 

 pairing season it is run out into a trill. The 

 movements of the Golden Plover during winter 



