522 HABITS OF THE GOLDEN PLOVER. 



although well below the level of the nest, rather liigli ridges, with a dell slope, being its most 

 favored spots. It makes its simple preparations in the beginning of April or the end of 

 March, according to the season, choosing some little depression in the soil, scratching it toler- 

 ably level, and laying in it a few bents and grass stems. The eggs are usually four in number, 

 and their color is yellowisli-olive, blotched with dusky brown. Like the eggs of the lapwing, 

 they are arranged with their small ends inwards. The Golden Plover also puts in practice 

 sundry devices to draw an intruder away from the nest, rising into the air when it has suc- 

 ceeded in its object, and uttering an exultant, whistling cry as it wheels off in safety. The 

 female is very careful about her eggs. While sitting, she cro^^ches so low upon them that her 

 speckled plumage can hiirdly be distinguished from the earth ; and when she leaves her nest, 

 she runs to some little distance along the ground before she rises into the air, and returns after 

 the same cautious fashion. 



The young birds are active on foot, and are able to follow their parent within a very short 

 time after their escape from the egg-shell. They are pretty little creaturss, covered with thick 

 dusky mottled down, and not easily to be discovered. 



The plumage of the Golden Plover varies generally according to age and the season of the 

 year. In the summer, the toj) of the head and whole of the upper surface are grayish-black, 

 mottled with triangular spots of golden-yellow. The face, chin, throat, and under surface of 

 the body are jetty-ljlacl'i, a white streak i^assing over the eyes and forehead, and separating 

 tl)e mottlings of the head from the Ijlack of the face. The primaries are nearly black, and the 

 taU is barred with whitish-gray and blackish-brown. Below the wing there is a band of white, 

 and the under tail-coverts are white. In the winter the chin is white, and the breast also 

 dusky-wliite, spotted with yellow ; and in late autumn and early spring the clianging plumage 

 is curiously mottled with black, yellow, and white. The yearling birds are more gray on the 

 breast and lower parts than when they have attained their second year's plumage. In total 

 length this bird measures not quite one foot. 



The Golden Plover was for a long time regarded as identical with the American bird of 

 that name. Wilson says : "This beautiful bird visits the sea-coasts of New York and New 

 Jersey in spring and autumn, but does not, as far as I can discover, breed in any part of the 

 United States. They are most frequently met with in the months of September and October, 

 soon after which they disai>pear. The yonng birds of the great Black-bellied Plover are some- 

 times mistaken for this species. Hence the reason why Mr. Pennant remarks his having seen 

 a variety of tlie Golden Plover, with black breasts, which he supposed to be the young. They 

 usually fly in small flocks, and have a shrill, whistling note. They are very frequent in 

 Siberia, where they likewise breed, and extend into Kamtschatka, and as far south as the 

 Sandwich Islands. ' In the latter place,' says Mr. Pennant, 'they are very small.' " 



'ITiis account shows the belief then existing that tlie European bird was identical with the 

 American. AVilson's account of the breeding localities is just opposite to that of the above 

 text. The latter is, pi-obably, the correct one. 



The American Golden Plover (Gharadrius dominieus) is distinguished by the ashen- 

 gray of the inner surface of the wings, the latter being white. The C/idm/s of Asia is nearer. 

 The Golden Plover is seen on all jjarts of our coast, hut is never abundant, and is never met 

 with in the interior. Dr. Coues saw it in consideral)le numbers on the Paciflc coast. They 

 were seen in company with the Tattlers and Esquimaux Curlews, and were quite tame, running 

 lapidly and lightly in search of food ; flew, with a mellow, whistling note, and settled again, 

 with a momentary, graceful pose of the upturned wing. Audubon gives the followiug descrip 

 tion of the bird : — 



" The Golden Plover spends the autumn, winter, and part of the spring in various portions 

 of the United States, appearing in considerable numbers both along the coast and in the 

 interior, and not unfrequently on our highest grounds. A much greater number, however, 

 proceed in severe winters beyond the limits of our Southern States, and the partial migrations 

 of this species are much influenced by the state of the weather. They are more abundant along 



