1544 The Zoologist — February, J 869. 



at a great height, and dashing down suddenly when over the planta- 

 tion ; for a time they perch on the higher trees, and are very noisy : as 

 darkness falls, they fly down by two or three together, into the gloom 

 of the underwood, perching on the boughs of the larch, and not, as far 

 as I can ascertain, roosting on the ground. Deep gloom pervades the 

 lower cover before the last fieldfare has settled to his place. Then for 

 a time there is silence ; the white mist creeps upwards from the low- 

 lands, and looking along the course of the stream we can see the 

 plantation tops only, standing out like islands in a misty sea : then, 

 just as the first stars become visible, we hear, but cannot see, the wild- 

 fowl passing over ; we can distinguish the rush and whistle of the 

 golden plover, the winnowing of the peewits, and the louder flight of 

 wild ducks, and, perchance, before we leave our post of observation, 

 there come some flying lower than their brethren ; then the mist is 

 riven by a double flash, and wc walk homewards with a fat mallard 

 tucked into each pocket. 1 believe some of the flocks of fieldfares 

 nightly roosting in this plantation come from a considerable distance, 

 even crossing the Huniber, here from five to six miles wide, as I have 

 heard them, late in the afternoon, when walking on the embankment, 

 passing over in the direction of their general roosting-ground. 



Golden Plover. — Extremely abundant, although, as usual, very vari- 

 able in their movements : often for days we find scarcely any in the 

 marshes, and then, before rain and wind, thousands may be seen, flock 

 after flock careering backwards and forwards the day through. This 

 is the time to shoot them, as they fly very low — in fine still weather far 

 out of shot, sometimes undislinguishable, except from their note. 

 These birds feed principally on earth-worms, the supply of which, 

 notwithstanding the immense flocks of worm eaters of various species 

 frequenting these grass-lands, is practically inexhaustible. I have often 

 been astonished, on paring off' a thin sod, at the large number of earth- 

 worms exposed ; they lie amongst the grass-roots close to the surface, 

 and are thus easily accessible to the plover, starling and rook. The 

 stomach of a golden plover opened lately contained a gray fluid, the 

 remains of earth-worms, and several blades of grass. In si.x golden 

 plovers recently examined 1 found three with the axillaries slightly 

 edged and broken with gray. These feathers are not always uniformly 



white. 



John Cordeadx. 



Great Cotes, Ulceby, Lincolnshire, 

 January 2, 1869. 



