Moorland Birds 



less heavily striped than that worn in their 

 courting days. 



The Golden Plover is another conspicuous in- 

 habitant of the heather during the summer months, 

 for he almost invariably advertises his presence 

 with a whistling note, " tliii," then, flying to meet 

 the observer, he puts aside a good deal of his 

 natural shyness, settling close by and watching 

 him from some hummock of ground. He is a 

 handsome bird at all seasons, with his black back 

 profusely spotted with golden yellow and ashy- 

 white, notch-like markings, but his under surface 

 is subject to considerable change, being white in 

 winter and black during the breeding season. 



The Golden Plover nests sparingly on the high 

 moors and boggy places of Devon and Somerset, 

 but it is in Scotland that his real home lies. The 

 bands that rove along the sea-shore in winter 

 return thither to breed, scattering in pairs over 

 the moors, for they are not so gregarious in their 

 nesting habits as the Lapwing. A hollow is 

 scantily lined with dry grass or heather tops, 

 and four pear-shaped eggs of yellowish stone 

 colour, spotted and blotched with umber-brown 

 and blackish-brown, are laid. They are some- 

 what larger than those of the Lapwing, and have 

 not their olive tinge, but the presence of the birds 

 prevents any confusion. As you get near a Pee- 

 wit's nest the owners are sure to wheel and 

 swerve overhead, with their curious uncertain 

 G 97 



