North American Birds Eggs. 



131 



280. Wilson Plover. Octliodrdiiiiis irilMmiiis. 



Haiigt'.— An altumlant breeding species on the Gulf coast, coast of Lower 

 California, and on the Atlantic coast north to Virginia, and casually farther. 



A common Plover, which may he tlistinguished 

 from others of the genus by its comparatively large 

 heavy black bill, and the single broad black bantl 

 across the breast, and not extending around the 

 back of the neck. They nest on pebbly "shingle" 

 or in the marsh l>ack of the l)eaches. Their eggs 

 are an olive gray color and are spotted and scratch- 

 ed with blackish brown, with some fainter mark- 

 ings of grav. Size I.-IO x 1.05. Data.— Corpus 

 Christi, Texas. May 10, ISDll. 4 eggs laid on the 

 ground among drifted grass on a salt marsh near 

 town. Collector, Frank B. Armstrong. 





(olive gray.] 



28 1. Mountain Plover. Podaxoci/^f inonftinux. 



Range. — Plains and prairies of western North America, breeding from the 

 centraF portions north to Manitoba, and wintering in California and southward. 



, A very peculiar species, inhabiting even the 



^V^j^^"": vx driest portions of the western prairies, ft is 9 



i^l^^^^gf i <tS!^ inches in length, and has a plumage of a pale 



Uj^ ' **|^**^ *• '^v buffy tone. It seems to be less aquatic than any 



%S^- **'^»' .'^^t . ' other American Plover and is rarely found in the 



^^i*%" .ft . ^ '.xJ-i^l vicinity of bodies of water. It nests on the ground 



***'* *- ' '^t* .. anywhere on the prairie, laying its eggs in a 



slight hollow. The eggs are brownish gray in color 



and are spotted and blotched with blackish bnnvn. 



Data. — Morgan county, Colorado, ^lay 7, 100:2. 



"■*^* Nest a slight hollow on the ground, near a large 



fBruwiii-h jiav I cactus bed and close to a water hole. No lining to 



" '^' nest. Collector, Glenn S. White. 



SURF BIRDS AND TURNSTONES. Family APHRIZID/E. 



282. Surf Bird. Aj>ltriza rirgata. 



This species, which is found on the Pacific coast from Alaska to Chili, seems 

 to be the C(mnecting link between the Plovers and the Turnstones, having the 

 habits of the latter "combined with the bill <if the former. Its nest and eggs are 

 not known to have been yet discovered. 



283. Turnstone. Arcnaria hiferpres. 



Range.— The distribution of this species, 

 which is grayer above than the following, is 

 supposed to be confined, in America, to the 

 extreme north from Greenland to Alaska. Its 

 habits and eggs are precisely like the next. 



i Creamy. J 



