174 GOLDEN PLOVER 



Europe, chiefly of the bird-destroying ItaHan race. In 

 my time the inhabitants were mostly the natives, the 

 gauchos, descendants of the early Spanish colonists, 

 and they killed no birds excepting the rhea, which 

 was hunted on horseback with the bolas; and the 

 partridge, or tinamu, which was snared by the boys. 

 There was practically no shooting. 



The golden plover was then one of the abundant 

 species. After its arrival in September, the plains in 

 the neighbourhood of my home were peopled with 

 immense flocks of this bird. Sometimes in hot 

 summers the streams and marshes would mostly 

 dry up, and the aquatic bird population, the plo- 

 ver included, would shift their quarters to other 

 districts. During one of these droughty seasons, 

 when my age was nine, there was a marshy ground 

 two miles from my home where a few small pools of 

 water still remained, and to this spot the golden 

 plover would resort every day at noon. They would 

 appear in flocks from all quarters, flying to it like 

 starlings in England coming in to some great 

 roosting centre on a winter evening. I would then 

 mount my pony and gallop off joyfully to witness the 

 spectacle. Long before coming in sight of them the 

 noise of their voices would be audible, growing louder 

 as I drew near. Coming to the ground, I would pull up 

 my horse and sit gazing with astonishment and delight 

 at the spectacle of that immense multitude of birds, 

 covering an area of two or three acres, looking less 

 like a vast flock than a floor of birds, in colour a rich 

 deep brown, in strong contrast to the pale grey of the 



