THE GOLDEN PLOVER.. 83 



of perching on the rough knolls of the mountain. They allowed 

 him to approach within ten or twelve yards, when they rose and 

 uttered a shrill whistle." This gentleman was familiar with the 

 appearance of the great plover, from having seen it shot in 

 Kent. In a communication to the " Zoologist" for March 

 1845, p. 876, Mr. J. Poole, of Growtown, near Wexford, stated, 

 under date of December 8, 1844, that he "had lately [Dec. 4] 

 an opportunity of examining a recent specimen of the Norfolk 

 plover which had been shot in [a bog in] that vicinity." In the 

 same page, one of these birds is mentioned by Mr. E. H. Eodd, 

 of Penzance, Cornwall, as having been brought to that town on 

 the 24th Dec. 1844. It is remarked that the several instances 

 known to the writer, of the occurrence of the species in the 

 Land's End district, were all in the middle of winter. 



A great plover in the garden of the Zoological Society, Regent's 

 Park, London, interested me much during different visits, in 

 May 1849, by remaining, fixed as a statue, so long as I had 

 patience to return its gaze, in whatever attitude it happened to 

 be, when my eye first rested on its organ of vision. I tried it 

 from the different sides of the aviary, and found its performance 

 the same from all. The earnestly fixed gaze of its large aud 

 prominent dark eye had a very singular effect. 



THE GOLDEN PLOVER* 



Charadrius pluvialis, Linn. 

 This beautifully marked and gracefully formed species is 

 common in suitable localities throughout Ireland, 

 and is permanently resident. 



A vast increase to the number of our indigenous birds, however, 

 takes place towards the end of autumn. The flocks which then 

 arrive remain during winter, and depart northward late in spring.f 



* Often called grey plover. 



f The golden plover was remarked by my late friend George Matthews, Esq., to 

 be plentiful during summer along the coast of Norway : he did not meet with it there 

 in winter. At the latter season, it is said to be most abundant in the Orkney 

 Islands. Hist. Nat. Oread., p 58 (1848). 



G 2 



