BKEWSTER : BIRDS OF THE CAPE REGION, LOWER CALIFORNIA. 73 



in March on Santa Margarita Island, and it has been reported from Santa Ro- 

 salia Bay. On the Pacific coast the Snowy Plover is found from California to 

 northern Chili, " and there is no evidence that it is a migratory bird in any 

 part of its range." ^ 



Aegialitis wilsonia (Oed). 

 "Wilson's Plover. 



Ochthodromns wilsonius Belding, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., V. 1883, 545 (Cape 



Region). 

 Aegialitis wilsonia Bktant, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 2d ser., II. 1889, 275 (Cape 



Region). 



My Lower California specimens of "WUson's Plover have considerably less 

 white on the forehead and sides of the head than do the birds from the eastern 

 United States. In the latter the forehead and superciliary stripes are pure 

 white and the lores often whitish. In the former the lores are always dusky, 

 the superciliary stripe is usually narrow and sometimes indistinct, and the 

 white of the forehead often more or less mi.xed with gray. The upper parts 

 are a shade darker, and in the female the pectoral band is somewhat broader 

 and duskier. In some of these respects the Lower California birds resemble 

 Mr. Ridgway's well marked form rufinucha, or rather, to be more precise, 

 they have even less white about the head than has that subspecies. In respect 

 to the amount and depth of the rufous on the head and neck, however, they do 

 not differ from typical unhonia, to which, I think, they may best be referred. - 



Mr. Frazar found Wilson's Plover " common at La Puz in February and at 

 Carmen Island early in March." His collection also includes two specimens 

 from San Jos6 del Cabo, taken respectively on October 18 and 22. The former 

 date is referred to in his notes as that of the "arrival" of the species. In 

 another connection he characterizes it as a "winter resident only." If it does 

 not breed near Cape St. Lucas the question at once arises where the birds which 

 occur there in winter come from, for none have been reported from any locality 

 in the central or northern portions of the Peninsula. !Mr. Seebohm says ^ that 

 A. wilsonia breeds "as far north as California," but no authority is given for 

 this statement. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway limit* its northward range on the 

 Pacific coast to Cape St. Lucas. Southward it occurs on the western shores of 

 Mexico, Central America, and South America to the extreme northern part of 

 Peru. Throughout this range it is said to breed wherever found. 



1 Seebohm, Geogr. Distr. Charadriidae, 1888, 172. 



2 Since writing the above I find that Mr. Ridgway has called attention to some 

 of these peculiarities as illustrated by specimens from Mazatlan and Cape St. 

 Lucas in tiie collection of the National Museum (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, 

 Water Birds. N. Amer., I. 1884, 169). 



3 Geogr. Distr. Charadriidae, 1888, 155. * Loc. cit., 168. 



