Page:Cassell's book of birds (IA cassellsbookofbi04breh).pdf/34

 actively engaged as in the day, which was also the case with the Snipes, but I seldom succeeded in my object, it being extremely difficult to estimate the distance at night. The numbers that at this season frequent the sandy pastures and shores of the outer Hebrides is astonishing."

The Golden Plover is in great request for the table, and is in perfection about September and October.

The specific name of pluvialis has been given to the Golden Plover on account of the extraordinary restlessness it exhibits before bad weather. A very remarkable instance of this characteristic is given by the Rev. R. Lubbock, in his "Fauna of Norfolk." According to that gentleman, he was much struck by the perpetual wheeling, now high, now low, of a large flock of these birds one fine bright day at the end of December. They were not still for a moment, and yet there appeared to be no cause for such unwonted disturbance. All next day they were in the same state of uproar, and on the following morning, which was as calm and mild as the preceding, the Plovers had all departed. About five o'clock in the morning, on the same day, the wind began to howl, signs of a severe tempest set in, and by the evening so much snow had fallen that in some places the drifts were six or seven feet in depth.

THE RINGED PLOVER.

The (Charadrius hiaticula) is light brownish ash-colour on the upper parts of the body; the large wing-covers being tipped with white; the throat and belly are white, the former having a black patch upon its front; the cheeks are black, divided between the eyes by a white line; the quills are dusky, part of the shafts and the web at the base being white. Of the twelve feathers that compose the tail, the two centre ones are brown, with dark tips, the three next black towards the end, the next one only brown on the inner web, and the outer one entirely white. The claws are black, the eyes hazel, and the feet orange, the beak is orange, tipped with black. During the winter these colours are less bright and the black upon the throat comparatively very pale. The female has less white upon the front and more upon the wings, and her plumage generally is of a more cineraceous brown. The young are dusky black and without the white on the front; their bill is dusky, and their foot yellowish brown. The length of this species is seven inches and half, and the span of the wing, sixteen inches; the bill measures one inch and half.

The Ringed Plover is abundantly met with in Germany and Holland, and is also found in France and Italy; during the summer it visits Russia and Siberia, whilst in Great Britain it remains throughout the greater part of the year, being especially numerous in all such parts of our coast as are well covered with sand and shingle. This species has, however, been known to breed in the sandy warrens of Norfolk and Suffolk, at a considerable distance from the sea. The food of this Plover consists of insects, worms, and small crustaceans. The four eggs laid by the female are deposited near the sea, in a hole in the sand, above high-water mark; occasionally this cavity is lined with tiny stones, of about the size of a pea, and from this circumstance has been derived the name of "Stone Hatch," by which the bird is known in some parts of England. The eggs have a cineraceous brown shell, spotted with black and greyish blue. If disturbed while brooding, the parents at once feign lameness, and anxiously endeavour to lead intruders away from their little family. The note of the Ringed Plover is a shrill whistle.

The DOTTED PLOVERS (Eudromias) form a distinct group, having their high straight beak compressed in the centre of the upper mandible, and of greater length than their large head. A portion of the wing is much prolonged, and the tarsus covered with horny plates. The dotted plumage is very similar in the various species.