.EGIALITIS SEMIPALMATA, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. 453 



by one and one-eighth in breadth, and are of a creamy clay-color, vari- 

 ously but usually thickly marked with blackish-brown. The marks are 

 usually of small size, tendiug to speckles and scratches rather than full 

 spots, only a few specimens of the large series before me being boldlj- 

 spotted around and at the butt. The markings tend to aggregate about 

 the larger end, but are usually quite numerously distributed all over. 

 The ground-color sometimes tends to a brownish-drab rather than the 

 color above mentioned. 



iEGIALITIS SEMIPALMATA, (Bp.) Cab. 

 Seniipalmated or Ring PlOTer. 



TriHgahiaticula, Wils., Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 65, pi. 59, f. 3. 



CharadriuH hiaticitla, Ord, ed. Wils. vii, 69. — Sab., Fraukl. Journ. 684. — Rich., Parry's 



2a Voy. 351. 

 Charadrius {^gialitis) hiaiicula var. semipalmatus, RiDGW., Ann. Lye. N. Y. x, 1874, 383. 

 Churadrius semipalmatwi, Bp., Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 219; Syu. 1828, 296; Aiu. Orn. iv, 



1832, 92, pi. 25.— Kaui', Isis, 1825, 1375, pi. 14.— Wagl., Syst. Av. 1827, No. 23.— 



Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 367.— Nutt., Man. ii, 1834, 24.— Aud., Orn. Biog. 



iv, 1838, 256 ; v, 579 ; pi. 330 ; Syn. 1839, 224 ; B. Am. v, 1842, 218, pi. 320.— 



PUTN., Pr. Ess. Inst, i, 1856, 216.— Schl., M. P.-B. 1865, Cursores, 30.— Gr.\y, 



Hand-list, iii, 1871, 16, No. 10009. 

 JEgialiiis semipalmalns, Bp., Comp. List, 1838, 45.— Cab., J. f. O. 1856, 428.— Bd., B. N. 



A. 1858, 694.— Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 231.— CouES, Pr. Phila. 



Acad. 1861, 228.— Couks & Prent.. Smiths. Rep. 1861, 415.— Wheat., Ohio 



Agric. Rep. 1860, No. 193.— Verr., Pri Ess. Inst, iii, 1862, 22.— Boardm., Pr. Bost. 



Soc. ix, 1862, 123. — Dress., Ibis, 1866, 347 (Texas, wintering).— Coues, Pr. 



Phila. Ac. 1866, 96.— Coues, Pr. Bost. Soc. xii, 1868, 122.— McIlwr., Pr. Ess. Inst. 



v, 1866, 92.— Coues, ibid, v, 1868, 291.— D all &. B.vnx., Tr. Chic. Acad, i, 1869, 



290.— TURNB., B. E. Pa. 1869, 29.— Mayn., Nat. Guide, 1870, 139.— Allex, Bull. 



M. C. Z. ii, 1871, 355.— Coues, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1871, 28.— Snow, B. Kans. 1873, 



9.— CouEs, Key, 1872, 244. 

 xEgialem scmipalmatm, Reich., Syst. Av. 1853. — Allex, Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1868, 501 ; 



Pr. E.SS. In.st. iv, 1864, 77. 

 Charadrius brevirostris, Maxim., Beitr. iv, 769 (Brazil). — Schomb., Guiana, iii, 750. — 



BuHM., Ueb. iii, 359. 

 '• Charadrius collaris, Light, neo Vieill." (Schlegel.) ^ 



Extralimital quotations.— C\li., J. f. O. iv, 1856, 428 (Cuba).~BRY., Pr. Bost. Soc. vii, 

 18.59 (Bahamas).— SuxD., Ofv. Ak. 1869, 588 (St. Bartholomew).- Lawr., Ann. Lye. N. 

 Y. viii, 1864, 101 (Sonibreio) ; ix, 238 (Puna Island). — SCL., Ibis, 1866, 197 (Guate- 

 mala).— Pelz., Orn. Braz. 297 (Brazil).— Darw., Voy. Beagle, 128 (Galapagos). 



Hab. — Continent of North America, breeding chiefly in higher latitudes, wintering 

 from onr southern border to Brazil.* 



The American Semipalmated or Ring Plover — " Ringneck,'' as it is 

 familiarly called — is at once distinguished from its Earoi)ean congener, 

 as well as from any species of this country, by the extent of the basal 

 wcbl)ing of the toes. The web between the middle and outer toe is 

 farger than in iiny other, while that between the middle and inner (rudi- 

 mentary in our other species) is as large as that between the outer and 

 middle toes of the rest. A glance at these two decided webs is suffi- 

 cient to determine the species. 



As noted above, its dis[)ers.ion is more than coextensive with the con- 

 tinent of North America ; for, in winter, although many individuals pass 

 that season on our southern coasts, others penetrate far into South 

 America. Jn the .Middk- States it is chielly a bird of pas.sage, and it is 

 only known to breed regularly + in higher latitudes. Along the coast of 

 North Carolina it ap|)ears in great numbers in April, and remains 



•Dr. Schlegel cites a specimen from lirazil, typo of the Priuco of Wied's C. brevirostris. 

 t Tlie bneding of a pair on Miiskrgtl Island, olV the Massivchusutts coaot, iu June, 

 1866, is noticed by Mr. Samuels, Orn. New Englaml, [>. 420. 



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