* * * * * The cream-coloured courser (_Cursorius gallicus_) is another rare straggler to England from Western Asia and North Africa. Golden Plover. Charadrius pluvialis. Upper parts greyish black spotted with gamboge-yellow; above the eye a white line, which continues down the neck to the flanks; under parts black. After the autumnal moult the under parts are white, and the upper parts more yellow than in spring. The female, in summer, has less black on the breast. Length, eleven inches. * * * * * The golden plover has for several centuries been in great esteem for the table, its fame in this respect being equal to that of the dotterel, woodcock, ruff, and black-tailed godwit. The two last named have now ceased to exist in this country as breeding species. The golden plover, although incessantly persecuted by fowlers and sportsmen, is still not uncommon; probably because the great majority of the birds that visit the British islands on migration in autumn and winter have their breeding-grounds in remote regions north of the arctic circle, where there are no human beings to molest them. The birds that breed with us are also migratory, and escape destruction by going south in autumn. [Illustration: FIG. 97.--GOLDEN PLOVER (summer plumage). ⅙ natural size.] The golden plover gets its common name from the rich yellow spots that decorate its upper parts. All the species of the genus to which it belongs undergo a very remarkable change of plumage every year: in winter the whole under parts are pure white; in spring the white changes to intense black, and this nuptial, or summer dress, lasts until the autumn moult, when the winter white is resumed. With us this species breeds in suitable localities throughout the British Islands, but very sparingly in the southern half of England. The nest is a slight hollow among heather or short grass, sometimes on the bare ground, and is scantily lined with dry grass. The eggs, of a yellowish stone-colour, spotted and blotched with blackish brown, are four in number, and are handsome, and large for the bird. The young when hatched are pretty little creatures, orange-yellow and brown in colour. The call-note of the golden plover, clear and wild and far-reaching, is one of the bird-sounds that have a great charm. In the pairing season the male emits a different sound, by way of love-song, as he rises and flutters in the air above his mate, and reiterates a double note so rapidly that it runs into a trill. After the breeding season the birds unite in flocks, and leave the moors for the lowlands and seashore. * * * * * The Eastern, or lesser golden plover (_Charadrius fulvus_), a form of the British golden plover differing only in its slightly smaller size, has been obtained on two or three occasions in this country.