ORDER GRALL^. 459 



These plovers strike the earth with their feet to cause the 

 worms, &c., to issue from their retreat. In the morning, like 

 the lapwings and the snipes, they visit the water side to wash 

 their bills and feet. They are rarely seen longer than twenty- 

 four hours in the same place, which doubtless proceeds from 

 their numbers, which cause a rapid exhaustion of their means 

 of subsistence in any given spot. They migrate from the dis- 

 tricts which they inhabit when the snow falls and the frost 

 begins to be intense, as their resources of provision are then 

 cut off, and they are deprived of the water, wliich their con- 

 stitution renders indispensable to them. It is very rare to 

 see a golden plover alone, and Belon tells us that the smallest 

 flocks in which they fly amount at least to fifty each. When 

 they are seeking their food, several of them act as sentinels, 

 and on the appearance of any danger, set up a shrill cry, as a 

 warning to the others, and a signal for flight. These flocks 

 disperse in the evening, and each individual passes the night 

 apart ; but at the dawn of day, the first that awakes gives a 

 cry of appeal to the rest, which immediately re-assemble on 

 this call. This cry is imitated by the fowlers to draw these 

 birds into their nests. 



The flesh of these plovers is, as we have said, in high 

 estimation, in general, though the peculiarity of its flavour 

 does not equally please every palate. It is best when the 

 birds are rather fat than otherwise. 



The Dotterel Plover {Charadrius Morinellns) is found 

 peculiarly located in certain parts of this country, and not 

 known at all in others. In France it is said to be merely a 

 bird of passage, and inliabits deserted and marshy countries. 

 It nestles in the north of Europe, but is more abundant in 

 Asia. It migrates southward in winter, and is then found in 

 Italy, in the Levant, and Greece. Its flesh is much esteemed, 

 and deemed preferable to that of the common plover. This 

 bird is remarkable for stupidity. 



