172 CHARADRIID.E. 



During rainy and drizzly weather the Golden Plover ap- 

 pears to be more active on the wing than at other times ; 

 when the frost is severe without snow, the bird leaves our 

 immediate vicinity for heath ground, but if the snow covers 

 the ground, and the weather is mild, they soon return to look 

 for the spots that can afford them food, being exposed by 

 means of thaw ; such places being the rendezvous of the 

 worms and insects that are called forth by the reappearance of 

 light and air. 



Although the reproduction of this species takes place in 

 greater numbers in more northern countries than our own, 

 to which the Golden Plover resorts in the spring of the year, 

 travelling from the end of March till May, yet many remain 

 behind in this and other countries during the breeding-season, 

 and are then found upon open, heathy moors, chiefly in pairs. 



The egg figured in our Plate was drawn from a specimen 

 taken on Woking Common, in Surrey, a well known breeding- 

 station for the Crested Plover. This specimen presents the 

 peculiar form of the egg of this species in great perfection, the 

 larger end shewing a very perfect semicircle, and the slope, 

 which leads to the smaller end, exhibiting a true straight line. 



The female, when choosing the locality for her nest, 

 searches for a slight depression in the ground, and, after 

 placing in it a few roots of heath-plants or grasses, deposits 

 her four eggs, which we cannot better describe than by 

 referring to our figure. We may remark, that the epithet 

 " golden," usually applied to this bird, is equally applicable 

 to its egg. 



The female bird incubates the eggs alone, and after seven- 

 teen days the young come forth, and leave the nest as soon as 

 they are dry ; when danger approaches while the parent bird 

 sits on the nest, she does not take wing, but runs to some 

 distance before doing so, in order to mislead the intruder. 



