308 SHORE BIRDS 



THE GOLDEN PLOVER 



The golden plover, familiarly known in the West as 

 golden back and bull-head, takes its name from the 

 yellow or golden dots on its back. It is a fine large 

 bird with black breast and head ; the forehead white 

 and a white stripe over the eye. The upper parts are 

 brownish black, beautifully mottled with yellow and 

 white. The golden dots render it unmistakable. 



Shortly after the arrival of the snipe, in the spring, 

 one may look for the golden plover. The date of their 

 arrival in the Northern States is dependent upon the 

 weather. Not a bird will be found until the frost is 

 well out of the ground. Many birds usually arrive in 

 April, but, as Mr. Hough says, the first of May can 

 roughly be called their date. By the last of that 

 month they have departed for their breeding grounds 

 in British America and north to the Arctic shores. 

 Before they have left us they have paired, and it is 

 without doubt wrong to shoot them in the spring, and 

 the shooting at this time should be prohibited by 

 legislation. I have had excellent sport with these 

 birds when snipe shooting in the spring on the West- 

 ern prairies, when the birds were so abundant as to 

 seem to need no legislation ; but they come each year 

 in greatly diminished numbers, and are seen no more 

 to-day in some places where they were very abundant 

 a few years ago. The salvation of this bird depends 

 upon the stopping of the spring shooting. The plover 

 return to the United States the last of August or dur- 

 ing September. They are found in flocks, often con- 

 taining many birds, and as they run about on the 



