OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 149 



Allied forms. — None more closely allied than Gharadrius fulvus, and its 

 American representative, C. dominicus, treated fully in the two following chapters. 



Habits. — The Golden Plover, like many other birds, is a species that 

 changes its haunts according to season. In summer it is an inhabitant of the 

 moors and mountain heaths, the rough upland pastures and the tundras ; in 

 winter it quits these places and takes up its residence on the lowland marshes, 

 the pastures and rough saltings near the sea, and the low flat coasts and mud 

 banks. For the greater part of the year it is a social bird : even in the breeding 

 season I have seen parties of half-a-dozen or so : but towards autumn it becomes 

 much more gregarious, and lives in flocks of varying size throughout the winter. 

 The flight of this species is rapid and steady, especially during migration, or 

 when the bird is passing from place to place, performed by regular and quick beats 

 of the wings. This Plover also frequently indulges in various serial evolutions, 

 and flocks often assume the shape of a V or a W during flight. Most of its food is 

 obtained during winter on the mud-flats and saltings, and it very often retires to 

 some inland spot between the tides to sleep, or to rest and wait until the muds 

 are exposed again. Vast flights of Golden Plover — the Plover of the coast — 

 make their appearance on our low-lying coasts in autumn, many of which con- 

 tinue along our shores and cross the sea again to winter further south, but 

 others remain with us for that season. In no part of the British Islands can the 

 migration of this species be better remarked than in the neighbourhood of the 

 Wash. For days and nights, about the end of October and early in November, . 

 this Plover has been known to fly over from continental Europe in almost one 

 incessant stream, the flocks succeeding each other so quickly as to form a nearly 

 unbroken throng. This Plover may frequently be noticed in company with 

 Dunlins, Lapwings, and Curlews, and occasionally a few Grey Plovers mix with 

 them. As its flesh is very palatable great numbers are shot in the autumn and 

 winter. It has been repeatedly noticed that just before stormy weather the Golden 

 Plover becomes restless and unsettled, and often leaves a district entirely before 

 the change arrives. Much of its food is obtained during the night, especially if 

 there be a moon, but I do not think it moves much on very dark nights. The 

 food of the Golden Plover varies a good deal according to season. In winter it 

 consists of beetles, small mollusks, sand-worms, hoppers, and, occasionally, small 

 seeds ; but in summer, insects and grubs, as well as earth-worms, and towards 

 autumn various kinds of ground fruits. In summer this species has been known 

 to feed upon the maggots (presumably the larvse of the common blue-bottle) 

 infesting a dead sheep. Various vegetable fragments and gravel are also found in 

 its stomach. The alarm note of the Golden Plover is a plaintive ko, but the call- 

 note is double, and sounds something like Jclee-wee, sometimes prolonged into 

 three syllables, klee-ee-wee. These notes are uttered both on the ground and 

 whilst the bird is in the air. During the pairing season the male utters a rather 



