AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER 257 



American Goldex Plover. Charadrius dominicus 



10.50. Bill .90 



Ad. in breeding plumage. — Top of head and upper parts black, 

 spotted with bright yellow and white ; tail dark grayish-brown, 

 barred with white, tinged with yellow ; a white line from fore- 

 head passes over the eyes, and broadens into a wide patch on the 

 side of the breast ; sides of head, neck, throat, and under parts 

 black. Ad. in late summer and fall. — Upper parts as in spring, but 

 duller ; under parts white, with a few grayish-brown feathers on 

 neck and breast. Im. — Upper parts dusky, mottled with dull 

 whitish spots, becoming yellow on the rump ; under parts ashy, 

 especially on neck and breast. 



The Golden Plover is a migrant along the coast, ex- 

 tremely rare in spring and rather rare in fall, passing north 

 in May, and returning from the end of August to Novem- 

 ber. It is occasionally found on the flats left bare by the 

 tide, but is more likely to occur well up on the beach, or 

 still more frequently on the short grass of marshes or hill- 

 sides, especially where the ground has been burned over. 



The call of the Golden Plover is a bright whistle, queep, 

 quee-lee-leep , without the mournful character of the Black- 

 belly's call, and with no modulation. It has also a note 

 like the syllable queedle. Immature birds resemble young 

 Black-bellied Plover, but are much less common. They 

 may be distinguished at close range by the absence of the 

 whitish tail, and of the white in the outspread wings. The 

 Golden Plover bobs regularly and the Black-belly rarely, 

 if ever. 



Black-bellied Plover ; Beetle-head. Sqiiatarola 



sqiiatarola 

 11.00. Bill 1.10 



Ad. in spring. — Hind head and back black, spotted and 

 barred with white ; tail luhite, barred with brownish-black ; wings 

 showing white inflight ; sides of head and neck, throat and breast, 

 and upper belly black, bordered by white on each side, the white 



