380 Charadriadce. 



Germany, Lerchengraue Regenpfeifer, and Grosser Brachvogel, 

 4 Great Fallow-bird ;' in Italy, II gran Piviere ; but in Spain, 

 Alcaravan ; and in Portugal, Alcaravdo, which carry with them 

 a strong Moorish flavour. 



137. GOLDEN PLOVER (Charadrius pluvialis). 



The Wiltshire sportsman on the downs will not need to be 

 told that here we have a winter migrant which favours our 

 county when frosts and snows drive it from more northern 

 latitudes, but which retires again as spring draws on, to breed 

 in the mountain districts it loves so well. It is a handsome 

 bird even in winter, when the golden hue which overspreads its 

 plumage gives it a bright appearance ; but when met with in full 

 breeding dress in summer, as I have seen it in Norway, on the 

 high fjelds of that wild country, it assumes such altered colours 

 that we can scarcely recognise it: for in place of the grayish 

 white which prevails on all the under-plumage, a glossy black 

 now appears, while bright golden yellow tips the edges of the 

 upper feathers, and the contrast of dark below and light above 

 is extremely pleasing. Its flesh is very highly esteemed by 

 epicures, and therefore it is diligently sought for by the fowler, 

 but thanks to its innate shyness, it is not very easily approached, 

 except during a fog. 



I found these birds very plentiful on the upper fjelds in 

 Norway ; and instead of the timidity they exhibit here, they 

 seemed perfectly fearless. On one occasion we were overtaken 

 by a snowstorm on a wild and desolate fjeld, more than twenty 

 miles from any human habitation, and took refuge during the 

 night in a goat-shed, where we vainly tried to keep out the cold 

 by heaping up a fire of heather and brushwood, round which 

 our shivering horses as well as ourselves were glad to crouch, 

 notwithstanding the suffocating smoke which filled their noses 

 and throats, and the bright flames which the crackling heather 

 gave out. Here the Golden Plovers abounded, and neither snow- 

 storm nor bitter wind, nor clouds of smoke, nor crackling flames, 

 dismayed them. All round the hut and during the entire night 



