26 WADING BIRDS. 



Subgenus. — Squatarola. (Cuvier.) Vanellus, 



(Brisson, S^c) 



With the feet 4 toed ; the hind toe very small. 



Obs. — This species connects the true Plovers with the Lapwings, 

 the latter of which are unknown in the United States. — The habits 

 of these birds are altogether similar with those of the Plovers. 



BLACK-BELLIED, or SWISS PLOVER. 



(Charadrius helveticus, Bonap. Tringa helvetica, Lin. Charadrius 

 apricarius, Wilson, vii. p. 41. pi. 57. fig. 4. Vanellus helveticus, 

 Brisson. V. 7?ie/«noo-a5ier, Bechstein. TEMMiNCK,d'Ornithologie, 

 ii. p. 547. Phil. Museum, No. 4196.) 



Sp. Charact. — Spotted; long axillary feathers, black. — Summer 

 plumage, spotted, with black and white ; beneath black. — Winter 

 plumage, spotted black and yellow; beneath inclining to white. — 

 Young and moulting individuals, below varied with black and 

 whitish. 



The Black-Bellied, or large Whistling Field Plover, is 

 met with in most parts of the northern hemisphere, and in 

 America is known to breed from the open grounds of Penn- 

 sylvania to the very extremity of the arctic regions. It is 

 common around Hudson's Bay, Greenland, Iceland, and in 

 all the inclement parts of Siberia, they also abound in the 

 spring in the plains of Ostrabothnia, in Lapland. It is 

 likewise believed to breed in the Highlands of Scotland. 

 How far they extend their migrations to the south is not 

 satisfactorily ascertained, though there is little doubt but 

 that they spread themselves to the confines of Mexico, and 

 they have been seen in considerable numbers in Louisiana 

 and Carolina, during the winter. According to Wilson, 

 they generally begin to visit the inland parts of Pennsylva- 

 nia in the latter end of April, and less timid than the Golden 



