Habits of the golden plover
Nantucket.
1875.
(Sept. 25) [September 25, 1875] Eating lunch here we drove to
Hummock pond where I fired
into a bunch of sandling [sanderling] and
killed 9 with a single barrel
At the report a flock of about
50 Ch. virginicus [Charadrius virginicus] rose from
the shore beyond where they
had been sitting unobserved on
the sand and turning at
Fisher's whistle came up to
within about 60 yds [yards]. when
S. [William Stone] and I let three barrels into
them and killed five: four
were birds of the year and one
a fine adult: all were excessively
fat. They came up in perfect
silence and but for their
dark color I should have
taken them for ring necks
so small did they look on
wing. They were afterwards joined
by a still larger flock, and all
together disappeared over the sand
hills. Afterwards we saw a flock
of about 20 sitting on a sand spit
where I tried to stalk them but
found them too shy. They fly
very swiftly and in a compact
body, bearing indeed a considerable 
semblance to a flock of wild pigeons.
We found their tracks anywhere on
the sandy beaches of the pond. Their
notes I heard only once and that 
faintly: it is different from that 
of S. Helvetica [Squatarola helvetica] a single low mellow whistle
Reached the house by 5 P.M.