CHARADRIID.E — THE PLOVERS — ^GIALITIS. 155 



Dr. Cooper did not find this species common along the southei-n portion of the 

 California coast. At San Diego he saw only one small flock, on the 2d of May. On 

 the 3d of May, 1854, he fonnd them migrating north of the Columbia River, and 

 is confident that none remain within the United States during the summer. They 

 return in September, and frequent tlie dry fields, as well as the shore and bays. 



In its southern migrations it visits Bermuda, occurring there from the 16th of 

 August to tlie last of October. It visits all the West India Islands, the Galapagos, 

 and South America, as far at least as Brazil and Peru. 



Its northern migrations extend to Greenland. Dr. Walker, of the " Fox," met with 

 it there, and afterward, in June, in the marshy valleys near Bellot's Strait, where it 

 was breeding. It is not mentioned as having been met with by Captain Blakiston on 

 the Saskatchewan, but is recorded as having been taken at York Factory ; and Mr. 

 Murray procured it from near Severn House, from Hudson's Bay, and also between 

 there and Lake Winnipeg. Mr. B. E. Ross found it common on the Mackenzie 

 River. A few are known to summer, and probably to breed, on Grand Menan. 

 Richardson states that this species abound during the summer throughout Arctic 

 America, where it breeds in situations similar to those inhabited by the Golden 

 Plover. The natives aver that, on the approach of a storm, this bird has been 

 known to clap its wings and to make a chirruping noise. 



Mr. Kennicott met with it in June at Lake Winnipeg, in September at Fort 

 Simpson, and in May at Fort Resolution and on the Yukon River. Mr. B. R. Ross 

 procured specimens at Fort Simpson in May, and Mr. MacFarlane found it breeding 

 on the Arctic coast, June 20, and afterward on the Anderson River. Mr. Mc- 

 Dougal met with it in the Gens de Large Mountains, and Mr. R. McDonald in the 

 mountains west of the Lower Mackenzie River. 



In Florida, according to Mr. IST. B. Moore, the Ring Plover is present during the 

 entire winter, arriving there as early as the 11th of August. 



Dr. Bryant found this bird a winter resident in the Bahamas, where it remained 

 from its autumnal flight until its departure in May. Dr. Grayson found a single 

 individual, assigned to this species, on Mare Island, in San Pablo Bay, near San 

 Francisco. Mr. Xelson states that in Illinois the spring migrations of this Plover 

 extend from April 25 to May 30, and its fall movements from July 31 to the end 

 of October. He is susj)icious that some breed not much to the north of Chicago ; 

 but his opinions require confirmation. 



Audubon states that this bird passes the winter along the shores of South Caro- 

 lina, Georgia, Florida, and the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Dresser mentions 

 it as common about the pond-holes near San Antonio in the autumn and spring, but 

 noticed none near Matamoras, and does not speak of it as being seen in winter. 

 It is found during the winter in Mexico, Central America, and in several of the West 

 India Islands. Salvin met Avith it in Guatemala on the sandy flats near Chiapam. 

 Mr. Leotaud mentions its making its aj^pearance in Trinidad each year, from the last 

 of July to October, and in much larger flocks than the Wilsonius. They live in the 

 same manner as the latter do, but not unfrequently forsake the borders of the sea to 

 feed in the moist lands of the interior. At the time of their general departure a few 

 are observed to remain behind and to continue about the edges of marshy pools. 



While a few keep in pairs, until joined by their brood, this Plover is generally 

 found in small scattered groups of five to ten associated together, yet each pair by 

 itself. They frequent alike salt-marshes, sandy beaches, and mud-flats left bare by 

 the receding tide. They are found in company with several of the smaller Tringce ; 

 and although each bird, while searching for food, appears to be unmindful of the 



