THE GOLDEN PLOVERS. 
149 
spicuous objects, as they stand like silhouettes, their black 
and white breasts and sides of neck presenting a sharp, clear- 
cut outline on the brown and grey background. At intervals, 
their clear, mellow, and melancholy note rises for a moment, 
and then the bird apparently sinks into a day-dream, and re- 
mains motionless for some time, until he is prompted to as- 
sure his partner of his presence by another call. 'I’he male at 
this season has a brighter plumage than the female, and in 
places little frequented by man, he becomes very unsuspicious ; 
near villages, however, he is always on the look-out, and is 
difficult to approach even when he is found by his nest. 
Towards the end of May, and during the first weeks of June, 
the males utter a clear, rich, song, which is frequently heard 
during the twilight of the short Arctic nights. 
“ When I was camping at the Yukon mouth during the last 
of May and the first part of June, 1879, these birds were 
scattered all about in the vicinity of the tent, and frequently 
during the middle of the night, the song was heard close by' 
and was exceedingly sweet and musical. One night, in par- 
ticular, I remember lying awake, listening to the usual con- 
tinuous faint clicking among the disintegrating ice in the 
river, which seemed to make the silence still more marked, 
when, suddenly, just at the back of the tent, arose the clear, 
plaintive note of the Golden Plover, which may be represented 
by the syllables too-lee-e. Soon after, in the same sweet, 
musical tone, was uttered a marvellously harmonious succes- 
sion of notes, which I wrote down at the time, listening to the 
song as it was repeated again and again, and ascertaining the 
exact number of syllables. 1 hese, 1 find, are very imperfectly 
represented as followsj Tee-lee-lee, tu-lce-lee, wit, wit, iint, wci-li 
ivit, die lee-u too lee-e. The three last .syllables are the ones 
most commonly uttered, serving as a call-note; but the song 
in full IS only repeated on special occasions, as before re- 
marked, being oftener heard during the still hours of the night 
than during the day, if, indeed, it can be called night when the 
sun disappears below the horizon for little over an hour.^’ 
Nest. The one discovered by Mr. Seebohm in Siberia was a 
mere hollow in the ground, on a piece of turfy land, over- 
grown with moss and lichens, and was lined with broken stalks 
of reindeer moss. Mr. Nelson says that sometimes a slight 
