62 BIRDS OF P. E. ISLAND.

water’s edge, or on the unstable crystal of its bosom. Most of these birds pass in great migratory waves annually from warmer to colder regions. Thus they pass our Island twice in a season. In the spring they go more directly northward, many of them being unseen here; but in the autumn, when they return with their flocks of young, they spread all over these Eastern Provinces filling the bays and marshes with endless troops of wading and swimming fowl. ’

Autumn days are glorious in Prince Edward Island. The free range of the gilded autumn fields, the blazing forests on the bills, the crystal, dashing streams, the silvery bays, and the soft, dreamy light of the mellow sky that rests its beauty long on our sea—girt hills, make autumn, in many respects, the most delightful season of our year. It is then the how-winged Plovers come in large, compact flocks, with their soft piping calls and gentle ways, to add fresh charm to the retirement of our streams and quiet marsh— borders.

The Golden Plover, a beautiful bird, ten inches in length, with its black coat all speckled

with golden yellow, is the favorite of the tribe.