130 BRITISH BIRDS’ EGGS. 
GOLDEN PLOVER. 
CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS, Linn. 
Pl. XIX., figs. 7-8. 
Geogr. distr.—Europe extending eastward as far as the Yenesay 
and southward to Belgium, Holland, and N. Germany, wintering on 
the shores of the Mediterranean; Asia as far east as Beloochistan ; 
Africa as far south as the Cape: in Great Britain it breeds chiefly in 
Scotland and Ireland, but also in the extreme south-west of England 
and some parts of Wales. 
Food.—Seeds of weeds, berries, insects, slugs, small sea Mollusca, 
and worms. 
Nest.—A mere depression in the ground lined with dry grasses, 
fragments of heather, and moss. 
Position of nest.—On heath-covered moors and swampy ground. 
Number of eggs.—4. 
Time of nidification.—V-VI; middle of May. 
Mr. Howard Saunders writes: ‘‘The Golden Plover is 
found during summer breeding on the high hills and 
swampy grounds of Great Britain and Ireland. In England 
it is believed to breed sparingly in Devonshire, and perhaps 
in Somerset, and it is known to do so in Breconshire, and 
some other counties of Wales and its borders. From 
Derbyshire onwards it becomes more abundant as a nesting 
species, and in Scotland it is generally distributed, being 
especially numerous in Sutherlandshire. It is a familiar 
bird on the moors of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and 
in the Hebrides the numbers which descend to the sandy 
pastures and shores are said by Macgillivray to be asto- 
nishing. Throughout Ireland it is to be found breeding 
in suitable localities.” —(Yarrell’s Hist. Brit. Birds, 4th ed., 
vol. u1., p. 273.) 
According to Hewitson, “it is a very watchful bird, and 
usually discovers itself long before you approach it, by its 
clear and plaintive whistle, which may be heard at a great 
distance, and is very deceptive.”” He continues, ‘‘ Though, 
as I have just stated, usually very wary and difficult to 
approach during the earlier days of incubation, it will 
sometimes, when the eggs are nearly hatching, almost 
allow itself to be trodden upon before it leaves its nest.” 
—(Ill. Eggs Brit. Birds, vol. 11., p. 249.) 
The food of the Golden Plover in summer consists, 
according to Seebohm, principally of worms and insects, 
and upon this diet the young begin to feed as soon as 
hatched. One brood only is reared in a season. 
