222 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



tions were interrupted by agricultural work in the fields, which 

 disturbed the birds. The labourers quartered the fields con- 

 stantly for eggs, and one of them told me that he found the first 

 nest with an incomplete clutch on March 25th. I regret now 

 that I did not find out whether the birds bred in the same field 

 that was the scene of their amatory exercises, as this would 

 afford considerable corroborative evidence for some of Mr. 

 Selous's conclusions. I incline to think that a certain piece 

 of ground is resorted to by the birds for their spring performance 

 in the same way that Euffs repair to their "fighting hills," for 

 the reason that the ploughed field under my observation was 

 constantly occupied by far more birds than could have all nested 

 there, and these birds were all restless and quarrelsome. 

 Meanwhile, on the neighbouring fields of grass and stubble, it 

 was usual to see a number of Plover of both sexes preening and 

 feeding quietly together without excitement. Besides, it is 

 significant that I saw the courtship actions very seldom per- 

 formed anywhere but on this ploughed field. There is also 

 some little evidence that before the females appeared the male 

 birds visited their playing grounds only at certain times. They 

 seemed to arrive from one to two hours after sunrise, and I 

 much regret now that I did not ascertain exactly when they left 

 in the evening. They certainly were never at the place at dawn 

 until March 6th, but after that date the white coverts of the 

 posturing birds could be seen on the dusky fields long before it 

 was light. 



The behaviour of the cocks to one another showed a curious 

 little analogy to that of the Ruffs. Although perpetually bicker- 

 ing there was never any serious fighting. Any quarrel ended in 

 a harmless outburst of aerial swooping. Sometimes two birds 

 charged each other on the ground with outspread wings, but 

 when within striking distance each twirled round and stood 

 with open wings with his back to his rival and bill drawn 

 back, in which position he had a ridiculous appearance of 

 futile pomposity. 



In Howard Saunders's 'Manual of British Birds' it is stated : 

 " The ' false nests ' often found are scraped out by the cock in 

 turning round when showing off to the female." This descrip- 

 tion is a little misleading. Judging from what I saw, the 



