GOLDEN PLOVER 



285 



The golden plover, although incessantly persecuted by fowlers and 

 sportsmen, is still not uncommon ; probably because the great 

 majority of the birds that visit the British islands on migration in 

 autumn and winter have their breeding-grounds in remote regions 

 north of the arctic circle, where there are no human beings to molest 

 them. The birds that breed with us are also migratory, and escape 

 lestruction by going south in autumn. 



FIG. 97. GOLDEN PLOVER (summer plumage), i natural size. 



The golden plover gets its common name from the rich yellow 

 spots that decorate its upper parts. All the species of the genus to 

 which it belongs undergo a very remarkable change of plumage 

 every year : in winter the whole under parts are pure white ; in 

 spring the white changes to intense black, and this nuptial, or 

 summer dress, lasts until the autumn moult, when the winter 

 white is resumed. With us this species breeds in suitable localities 

 throughout the British Islands, but very sparingly in the southern 

 half of England. The nest is a slight hollow among heather or short 

 grass, sometimes on the bare ground, and is scantily lined with dry 

 grass. The eggs, of a yellowish stone-colour, spotted and blotched 

 with blackish brown, are four in number, and are handsome, and 

 large for the bird. The young when hatched are pretty little 

 creatures, orange-yellow and brown in colour. 



The call-note of the golden plover, clear and wild and far- 

 reaching, is one of the bird-sounds that have a great charm. In the 



