Plovers 



fusing them now than in the autumn migration, when immature 

 birds, especially, so closely resemble the golden plover that it is 

 only by noting this bird's small hind toe, which no other plover 

 owns, and the black axillars, or feathers of its armpits, so to 

 speak, where the golden plover is smoky gray, that the sports- 

 man can positively tell which bird he has bagged. It has been 

 said that these plovers migrate in wedge shaped ranks and lines 

 like ducks and geese, which may often be the case, but not al- 

 ways or usual, we think. A cresent shaped flock, the horns point- 

 ing sometimes forward, sometimes backward, seems to be the 

 preferred form of flight. Long, perfect wings, a full, slow wing 

 stroke, and a light body are a combination well calculated to 

 discount distance. 



Arctic travellers have brought back clutches of three or four 

 pointed eggs that vary greatly in color, ranging between light 

 yellowish olive or dark to shades of brown spotted and speckled 

 with rufous. They have also brought back a " yarn " — or is it a 

 fact ? — about the males sitting on the nest and doing all the incu- 

 bating, while the females enjoy fin de sihcle emancipation. 

 Fluffy, precocious chicks hatched in June become expert flyers 

 by July, and in August arrive in the United States with parents 

 and friends in motley flocks, often no two birds of which are 

 wearing precisely the same feathers. Having fed chiefly on ber- 

 ries and grasshoppers at the north, autumn birds are counted good 

 eating ; but as they have a decided preference for tide water flats 

 and marshes where shrimps and other small marine creatures 

 form their diet, the flesh soon becomes sedgy and unpalatable 

 once they reach the coast. A quick strike at a particle of food 

 about to be picked up makes these plovers appear greedy ; how- 

 ever, all their motions are quick and sudden. In running, espe- 

 cially, are they nimble: a sprint of a few yards, a sudden halt to 

 reconnoitre with upstretched heads, another quick run, then a 

 pause, are characteristic movements of most plovers, just as squat- 

 ting to conceal themselves is. 



Because so many young innocents which have no knowledge 

 of men make up the autumn flocks, these respond quickly to de- 

 coys and to an imitation of their clear, mellow whistle, that pene- 

 trates to surprising distances from where the birds are circling high 

 in air. Down they sail on motionless wings, apparently glad for 

 any diversion in their aimless, roving life. Soft notes of content- 



338 



