230 THE GOLDEN PLOVEE. 



Plover (also entitled Stone Curlew and Norfolk Plo- 

 ver, also the Grey), and the Golden Plover ; the last 

 of which, as being the most interesting of the family, 

 we take as the head of the list, although the smallest 

 of the species. It is scarcely above ten inches long, 

 and its weight is no more than from seven to eight 

 ounces. This bird is common in Britain on sedgy 

 islands where there are few or no inhabitants, where 

 they can strew the ground with their nests, and, 

 as it were, claim its inherent possession. It occurs 

 abundantly on our coasts in winter, and, contrary to 

 the habits of the grey species, is seen in vast flocks. 

 It is thus known far and wide among the sub- 

 alpine moorlands of Scotland, the sedgy moors of 

 Ireland, and in our own country in every suitable 

 locality. In such resorts, when 



" The wheeling plover ceased 

 Her plaint, 't was silence all." 



Nothing can well be more noisy than this family 

 Let an intruder but approach the brood, and off she 

 flies, wailing and whelping out her singular cry, in 

 very advance of the enemy; then, after convincing 

 herself of the absence of danger, she will whisk away 

 through the sylvan coverts loved by the cushat, ere 

 she again returns to her young. The breeding 

 plumage begins to change as soon as the bird settles 

 in her location ; the nest is made with great careless- 

 ness, and lined very indifferently with mere grasses 

 or materials close at hand. The nest is a mere 



