GRALLJE — CHARADRID.E — CH ARADRIUS. 213 



THE GOLDEN PLOVER. 



Charadrius virginiacus. 



plate lxxviii. fig. 178. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Golden Plover. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 483. No. 308 and 399. 



C.pluvialis. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 7, p. 71, pi. 59, fig. 5. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol 2, p. 297. 



C. virginiacus, BoKKHEIM. Bonaparte, Geog. and Comp. List, p. 45. 



C. marmoralus. Wagler, Syst. Avium. Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 5, p. 203, pi. 216. 



C.pluvialis. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 16. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 368. 



C. marmoralus. Giradd, Birds of Long island, p. 213. 



Characteristics. Mottled above with black and greenish yellow ; the long axillary feathers 

 light brown. Summer, with large patches of black beneath. Winter, 

 whitish beneath. Young, duller ; beneath varied with black and whitish. 

 Length, 10-5. 



Description. Bill shorter than the head, straight, slightly curving at the tip. Tibia bare 

 for some distance above the joint. Outer toe connected with the middle by a web to the 

 second joint. First quill longest : tips of the wings extending beyond the tail, which is nearly 

 even, rounded. Legs extending beyond the tips of the wings. 



Color. This is subject to great variations, according to the season and the moult ; but in 

 all a constant character may be found in the mottled greenish yellow, rufous and black upper 

 parts, from which results a general greenish appearance. Quills and coverts greyish brown ; 

 lower parts mottled with white and black. In the specimen figured, and which was shot in 

 May, the throat and breast ash-grey, streaked with brown ; breast barred with brown, and 

 the tail with a subterminal band of yellowish or dingy white : the streak over the eye almost 

 obsolete. 



Length, 10-5-11-0. 



This bird has for a long time been confounded with the pluvialis of Europe, with which 

 it is closely allied, but is smaller, and has the long axillary feathers dull brown instead of 

 pure white. It ranges from 23° to 75° north, and breeds in the Arctic regions and islands of 

 the Arctic sea. It appears in this State, in a straggling manner, in the latter part of April ; 

 and after a stay of a few weeks, passes on to the north to breed. Eggs are said to be pale 

 olive, marked with blackish spots. After breeding, they return rapidly through this State in 

 the early part of September, and are then to be seen in large flocks on the open plains of 

 Long island, in search of grasshoppers and other insect food. As they appear in the greatest 

 numbers after a sharp frost, they are popularly known under the name of Frost-bird. They 

 are frequently also called Greenbacks. At that period it is a watchful and timid bird, and 

 hence is usually shot from wagons by sportsmen. In the course of a week or two, they 

 disappear, and pass the winter south of the United States. 



