622 AVES— PLOVER. » 



But the circumstance which makes this bird differ from all others, is the 

 astonishing and seemingly preposterous length of its legs. Mr White has 

 given a very pleasing description of this natural curiosity. 



"These birds might with propriety be called the stilt plovers. My speci- 

 men, when drawn and stufled with pepper, Aveighed only four ounces and a 

 quarter, though the naked part of the thigh measured three inches and a half. 

 Hence we may safely assert, that these birds exhibit weight for inches, and 

 have incomparably the greatest length of legs of any known bird. The fla- 

 mingo, for instance, is one of the most long-legged birds, and yet it bears no 

 manner of proportion to the himantopus, as this bird is denominated by 

 naturalists ; for a cock flamingo weighs, at an average, about four pounds 

 avoirdupois; and his legs and thighs measure usually about twenty inches. 

 But four pounds are fifteen and a fraction times more than four ounces and 

 a quarter ; and if four ounces and a quarter have eight inches of legs, four 

 pounds must have one hundred and twenty inches and a fraction of legs, or 

 somewhat more than ten feetj such a monstrous disproportion as the world 

 never saw. If we try the experiment in still larger birds, the disparity will 

 increase. 



" It must be matter of great curiosity to see the stilt plover move ; to ob- 

 serve how it can wield such a length of lever with such feeble muscles as 

 the thighs seem to be furnished Avith. At best, one would expect it to be a 

 bad walker; but what adds to the wonder is, that it has no back toe." 



THE GOLDEN PLOVER. i 



The golden, or green plover, is a well known bird, and is found in small 

 flocks, in the winter time, on all our moors, heaths, &:c., where it feeds chief- 

 ly on worms. It is remarkable for the whole of its plumage being elegantly 

 variegated with a fine, yellowish green. From its spots somewhat resem- 

 bling those of a leopard, the ancients called it pardalis. It may be enticed 

 within gunshot, by a skilful imitator of their voice, and is esteemed as a 

 delicacy. It is eleven inches in length, weighs nine ounces, and is found in 

 France, Switzerland, Italy, and most parts of England. 



^ Charadrins pluvialis, Lin. The genus Charadrius has the bill shorter than the 

 head, slender, straight, compressed ; mandibles gibbous toward the tip ; nostrils longitu- 

 dinally cleft in the large membrane which covers the nasal furrow; legs slender, with 

 three toes before, the outer connected with the middle one by a short membrane, and the 

 inner divided ; tail slightly rounded or even ; wings middle sized ; the second quill feather 

 longest. 



