154 AFTER GREY PLOVERS AT WASILKOVA 



identification of the eggs. It was also perfectly obvious 

 that the extreme care we had taken not to alarm the bird 

 was unnecessary. Our little manoeuvre of walking away 

 from the nest in a body, leaving one behind lying flat on 

 the ground to watch, under the impression that the bird 

 could not count beyond three, and would think that we 

 had all gone, was clearly so much artifice wasted. The 

 birds were evidently determined to come back to their 

 nests in spite of our presence ; nor was there any cover 

 to hide us if the contrary had been the case. Our care 

 not to handle the eggs until we had secured the bird was 

 also of no use, as we often proved afterwards. On a 

 marshy piece of ground I shot a reeve ; and then we 

 struck across a very likely piece of land — little flat pieces 

 of bog with mossy ridges between. Presently Harvie- 

 Brown, who was in front, whistled, and as I was coming 

 up to him I saw a grey plover to my left. He called out 

 to me that he had put up a pair near where he was 

 standing. I soon caught sight of another bird on the 

 ground, lifting its wings as if to attract me from its nest. 

 It then quietly ran off, and I went to the spot, but finding 

 nothing lay down to watch. Harvie-Brown did the same 

 about eighty yards off. It was not long before I caught 

 sight of both birds at some distance. One, which I at 

 once concluded must be the male, remained in one spot, 

 the other was running towards me, stopping on some 

 elevation every few yards to look round. By-and-by it 

 flew between Harvie-Brown and me, and alighted on the 

 other side of me. The other bird soon followed, and 

 remained as before, apparently watching the movements 

 of the restless bird, which I now felt sure must be the 

 female. To this latter bird I now confined my attention, 

 and kept it within the field of my telescope for more than 

 half an hour. It was never still for more than a minute 



