58 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



For breeding purposes, these birds resort principally to 

 marshy bogs and the moist parts of undrairied hills ; and 

 during the period of nesting and incubation they are rarely, 

 if ever, seen except in pairs. About September the birds 

 begin to congregate in the large flocks already alluded to, 

 and they remain so congregated until the approach of the 

 pairing season in the following spring. 



All the Plovers are notorious for the ingenuity which 

 they display in alluring unwelcome intruders from their 

 nest; and the Golden Plover is quite an adept in these 

 cunning devices. When the female leaves the nest, she 

 glides quietly off, and runs along the ground for some little 

 distance before attempting to take wing ; then, if watched 

 or pursued, she will stumble, assume lameness, and pretend 

 to be quite unable to fly, the astonishing persistency and 

 cleverness of these deceptive actions being amongst the 

 most interesting and noticeable of the bird's characteristics. 



The ordinary flight of the Golden Plover is rapid and 

 strong, and when flying about in companies they rise 

 and fall in the air, twisting and sweeping round in circles 

 as they approach the ground. The bird runs with ex- 

 treme nimbleness, getting up on some stone or prominence 

 every now and again, apparently to take a survey of its 

 position and bearings. 



The food of this bird consists largely of insects, beetles, 

 worms, slugs, caterpillars, grain, and various seeds. The ' 

 note, or cry, is a wild, plaintive whistle, uttered in flight, 

 and generally when the bird is at a great height from the 

 ground. The note itself has been compared to the words 

 ^tluwee tluwee," and is referred to in Scott's well-known 

 lines 



" And in the plover's shrilly strain 

 The signal whistle 1 s heard again." 



