624 GOLDEN PLOVER.
pick up the object of their search by a peculiar bending movement of the
body. They are frequently observed to pat the moist earth with their
feet, to force worms from their burrows. In autumn they betake themselves
to the higher grounds, where berries as well as insects are to be met
with, and where they find abundance of grasshoppers.
When travelling to a considerable distance, the Golden Plover flies at
the height of from thirty to sixty feet, in a regular manner, with considerable
velocity, the flock, when large, forming an extended front, and
moving with regular flappings, an individual now and then uttering a
mellow note. Before alighting they often perform various evolutions,
now descending and flying swiftly over the ground, then curving upwards
or sidewise, closing and extending their ranks, until the sportsman is often
tired of watching them, and, after all, the flock, just when he expects it
to alight, may suddenly shoot off and fly to a distance. When they alight
within shooting distance, the moment their feet touch the ground is the
critical one, for they are generally in a compact body, and almost immediately
afterwards they disperse. I have often observed them while flying
from one place to another, suddenly check their course for a moment or
two, as if to look at the objects below, in the manner of Curlews.
While at New Orleans, on the 16th of March 1821, I was invited by
some French gunners to accompany them to the neighbourhood of Lake
St John, to witness the passage of thousands of these birds, which were
coming from the north-east, and continuing their course. At the first appearance
of the birds early in the morning, the gunners had assembled in
parties of from twenty to fifty at different places, where they knew from
experience that the Plovers would pass. There stationed, at nearly equal
distances from each other, they were sitting on the ground. When a
flock approached, every individual whistled in imitation of the Plover's
call-note, on which the birds descended, wheeled, and passing within forty
or fifty yards, ran the gauntlet as it were. Every gun went off in succession,
and with such effect that I several times saw a flock of a hundred or
more reduced to a miserable remnant of five or six individuals. The
game was brought up after each volley by the dogs, while their masters
were charging their pieces anew. This sport was continued all day, and
at sunset, when I left one of these lines of gunners, they seemed as intent
on killing more as they were when I arrived. A man near the place where
I was seated had killed sixty-three dozens. I calculated the number in
GOLDEN PLOVER. 625
the field at two hundred, and supposing each to have shot twenty dozen,
forty-eight thousand Golden Plovers would have fallen that day.
On inquiring if these passages were of frequent occurrence, I was told
that six years before, such another had occurred immediately after two
or three days of very warm weather, when they came up with a breeze
from the north-east. Only some of the birds were fat, the greater number
of those which I examined being very lean; scarcely any had food in
their stomach, and the eggs in the ovaries of the females were undeveloped.
The next morning the markets were amply supplied with Plovers at a
very low price.
I have again applied to my friend WILLIAM MACGILLIVKAY for an
account of the manners of this species during the breeding season, which
I now lay before you.
" The Golden Plover is in many parts of Scotland, but especially in
the Northern Highlands, and in the Hebrides, a very common bird.
When the weather begins to improve towards the end of spring, these
birds may be seen flying over the shores or fields in their vicinity, at a
great height, in loose flocks, which now extend into a wide front, now form
irregular angular lines, move with a quiet and regular flight, frequently
emitting their peculiar soft notes, and at times uttering a singular cry,
somewhat resembling the syllables courlie-wee. These flocks are leaving
their winter haunts and returning to the inland moors, over which they
disperse in pairs. In the beginning of May, should you traverse one of
the dreary heaths, you will often hear the plaintive cry of the Plover,
mingling, perhaps, with the feeble cheep of the Dunlin, or the loud
scream of the Curlew. Before you have advanced to any considerable
distance, there may come up and alight on some mossy knoll beside
you, a male, clad in his beautiful summer vesture of black and
green. You may approach him within ten paces if you are inclined,
and in some districts it would be easy for one to shoot many dozens
of them in a day at this season. After incubation has commenced,
the females seldom make their appearance on such occasions. Whether
the males assist their mates at that time or not, they certainly do not forsake
them. The nest is a slight hollow in a tuft of moss, or on a dry
place among the heath, irregularly strewed with fragments of withered
plants. The eggs, of which the full number is four, are placed, as usual
in this genus, with their small ends together. They are much larger and
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