174 STAN AVI ALACHTA REVISITED 



We walked some distance before we came upon a 

 second pair ; but at length we heard the well-known cry, 

 and got into position. We spent nearly two hours over 

 this nest, and were quite at sea at the end of the time. 

 We changed our position several times, but to no purpose. 

 The female went here and there and everywhere, as much 

 as to say, "I'm not going on to the nest as long as you 

 are so near." By-and-by the mosquitoes fairly tired us 

 out, and we gave up the watching game and commenced 

 a search. At last we found out the secret of the bird's 

 behaviour. We picked up some broken egg-shells, and 

 concluded at once that the bird had young. We tried to 

 find them, but in vain. These two hours, however, were 

 not wasted. The birds came nearer to me than they had 

 ever done before. I often watched them at a distance of 

 not more than ten yards, and was able to hear their notes 

 more distinctly. The note most frequently used is a 

 single plaintive whistle, k'dp, long drawn out, the o pro- 

 nounced as in German, and the consonants scarcely 

 sounded. This I am almost sure is the alarm-note. It 

 is principally uttered by the female when she stops and 

 looks round and sees something of which she disapproves. 

 If the male shows any anxiety about the nest, which he 

 seems to do more and more as incubation progresses, he 

 also utters the same note. The double note, kl-ee or 

 kleep — the kl dwelt upon so as to give it the value of a 

 separate syllable — is also uttered by both birds. It is 

 evidently their call-note. I have seen the female, when 

 she has been running away from the male, turn sharp 

 round and look towards him when he has uttered this 

 note, exactly as any one might do who heard his name 

 called. Whilst we were watching this pair of birds a 

 couple of other grey plovers came up, and called as they 

 flew past. The male answered the call and flew towards 



