152 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Allied forms Charadrius pluvialis and G. dominicus, treated in the 



preceding and following chapters. 



Habits.— The habits of the Asiatic Golden Plover are not known to differ 

 much from those of its European ally. During summer it is a bird of the 

 tundras, the vast expanses of Arctic moors above the limits of forest growth ; 

 but in winter it migrates for thousands of miles to the south, and spends that 

 season principally on the flat, mud-bound coasts and rough lands near the sea. In 

 China, however, Swinhoe observed it frequenting the dry rice fields and sweet 

 potato gardens as well as the sea shore ; whilst at its winter quarters in Borneo it 

 is said to haunt the places where buffalos wallow, probably for the purpose of 

 catching insects and worms. It is equally gregarious and sociable, especially 

 during winter, and then consorts with other wading birds ; and in Ceylon is 

 said to be generally in the company of the Mongolian Eed-breasted Einged Plover. 

 Many of its gatherings during winter are of very large dimensions, which 

 frequent the muds, whilst smaller parties are said to haunt the bare fields. 

 Captain Legge states that in Ceylon, where it is very common during winter, it 

 has a habit of running a little distance when approached, then pausing for a 

 moment, with its body turned away from the observer and its head twisted on 

 one side. If it be still pursued it spreads its wings and runs for a little way, 

 then takes flight. A flock when disturbed will frequently fly swiftly towards the 

 ground, then rise again. It walks and runs about the ground, and flies in a 

 similar manner to the Golden Plover. The note of the Asiatic Golden Plover is 

 described by Seebohm as a plaintive ko ; the double note is a whistling hl-ee, 

 which is sometimes prolonged into three syllables, kl-~ee-hd. The food of this 

 species consists of various small marine animals, such as mollusks, crustaceans, 

 and the like, worms, snails and insects, and probably various ground fruits of the 

 tundra. 



Nidif ication. — By far the best account of the breeding habits of the Asiatic 

 Golden Plover is that given by Seebohm, who met with this species and obtained 

 its eggs and downy young on the Siberian tundras in the valley of the Yenisei. 

 These eggs and nestlings are perhaps the only authentic ones known to science, 

 with the exception of the eggs obtained by Mr. H. L. Popham in the same 

 area. The earliest examples of this species arrived in the Arctic regions during 

 the first week in June, in lat. 66|^°, and it was observed on the Koorayika 

 during its passage north to the tundras. It was not again observed until the open 

 tundra was reached in lat. 69|-°, just beyond the limits of the growth of trees. 

 Here the pine trees had disappeared, and the birch trees had become nothing 

 more than stunted bushes about a foot high ; but the alders and the willows still 

 grew luxuriantly on the banks of the great river. The tundra here was hilly, full 

 of lakes and swamps, covered with mosses and lichens, here and there varied with 



