2418 The Zoologist — January, 1871. 



seems to have always been a favourite with uaturalisls and sports- 

 men. Mr. Johns, in his ' British Birds and their Haunts,' dwells 

 lovingly on the aerial evolutions of this familiar bird; his descrip- 

 tion is both poetical and truthful — happy combination where it can 

 be found. Mr. Stevenson has also written well and lovingly on 

 this species, and has invited especial attention to a feature in its 

 history which he thinks has " until very recently escaped the notice 

 of British ornithologists ;" he alludes to its whistling while passing 

 in its nocturnal flight over gas-lit towns. This observation applies 

 to book-making ornithologists only. I cannot imagine " an out-of- 

 doors man" — a man who looked and thought beyond the musty 

 dusty cases of a museum, — I cannot imagine such an one to have 

 been unobservant of the weird night-whistle of the golden plover: 

 it is one of those sounds which has " harrowed many a soul," and 

 caused many a sleepless night. The unknown is ever the sensa- 

 tional, and there can scarcely exist the ornithologist who has not 

 over and over again heard of this nocturnal wonder. 



"Their southward movement, as is the case also with many of the 

 Triuga;, commences far earlier iu the autuoiu than is generally supposed, 

 and, considering also their late stay with us, at times, iu the spring, their 

 nesting duties in more northern localities must be performed in a very 

 limited period. It is by no means unusual to hear the well-known notes of 

 these birds, at night, by the middle of August, as the vanguard of their 

 migratory forces passes over this county, and stragglers occasionally lulled 

 at such times leave no doubt as to the identity of the species. -= =^^= * It 

 is not, however, until the end of September, or more usually in the following 

 month, that such flocks as frequeut our stubbles and fallows tempt the 

 sportsman to leave the partridges for a time, and endeavour, by careful 

 stalking, to obtain a shot. This, however, as the plover generally alight in 

 the middle of a field, is extremely imcertain, but by walking round and 

 round them, each time gradually narrowing the circle, they may sometimes 

 be approached near enough for a successful shot. Not unfrequently, also, 

 by firing one barrel at random, a fair chance is ofi'ered for the second, as 

 golden plover, as well as lapwings, invariably sweep downwards in a body, 

 and theu scatter in all directions after the first report. I have generally 

 found them more abundant during November than in any other month, 

 when, as Mr. Lubbock remarks, ' they seem to divide their time between 

 the marshes and uplands. If they are in a marsh all day they often move 

 off to a ploughed field just as it is dusk, and vice rcrsd, if upon arable land, 

 they go down to the mareh for the night.' My own experience exactly 

 confirms this statement, as some year's smce, when in the habit of shooting. 



