Wilson's plover. 21 



low, inclining to orange, claws black. — Young, without any of the 

 black marks, the cervical patch and whole head being equally cine- 

 reous, and the bill black, except towards the base. 



WILSON'S PLOVER. 



(Charadrius Wilsonius, Ord. Wilson, ix. p. 77, pi. 73, fig. 5. Phil. 

 Museum, No. 4159, [male.] No. 4160, [female].) 



Sp.Charact. — Olive ash color; front, collar, and beneath white; 

 frontlet, and a broad ring around the base of the neck, black ; bill 

 black; feet flesh color. — Adult, with a black sincipital band. — In 

 the young, the band of the hind head, with the frontlet and neck- 

 ring is dusky. 



Of this species, which sparingly inhabits the middle 

 and Southern States during summer, very little is yet 

 known. The specimens, from which the description was 

 taken, were shot on the 13th of May, on the shore of Cape 

 Island, in New Jersey, by Wilson, and possess much the 

 appearance of the preceding species. They seem to have a 

 predilection for the strand and the vicinity of the sea, and 

 probably nest and breed just above the reach of the summer 

 tides. When observed, they were heard to utter an agree- 

 able piping note, like most of the birds of the same section 

 to which they belong. 



This species is about 7| inches, and 15J in alar stretch. Front 

 broad and white, bounded by a widish band of black; the lores also 

 black. From the middle of the eye backwards a stripe of dull white. 

 Above olive drab, the auriculars and nape tinged with rufous brown. 

 Below white, with a broad band of black on the breast, preceded 

 by another of white. Quills brownish black, some of the shafts and 

 their edges white. Iris dark. Legs and feet flesh colored; claws 

 black. Tail even, blackish olive, the two outer feathers whitish. 

 Bill black and stout, an inch long, the upper mandible projecting. — 

 The/eTreaZe without the black on the forehead, lores, or breast. 



