PLOVERS 



Thanks to their wariness, it is ciuite possible, 

 e\en at the ]iresent, to see small parties or flocks 

 of these stout birds standing- well out on the flat, 

 at the water's edge. At the first approach of 

 danger, off they go. with their mellow call of 

 tcc-ii-rcc-c. Plump bodies and large heads, as 

 well as the white rump, white on the extended 

 wings, and the conspicuous black patch under the 

 wings against light feathers, make them easy of 

 distinction from the darker Golden Plovers. 

 Unlike the latter, which resort to dry fields to 

 secure grasshoppers and other insects, these 

 " Beetle-heads," as they are sometimes called by 

 fishermen and gunners, mostly confine themselves 

 to flats and beaches and to pools in the marsh. 



Solid though they are, comparatively, I made 

 the discovery one day that they could go where 

 I could not. A small flock were feeding well out 

 at the water's edge, at low tide, on a muddy 

 shore, in winter, on the coast of Louisiana. I 

 managed to wade out with my lieavy motion- 

 picture camera near enough to show them up 

 with the telephoto lens. When I started to 

 return, I thought I should have to stay there. 

 When I pulled the tripod legs out of that tena- 

 cious mud. I sank down so that I could not ex- 

 tricate myself without putting down the tripod 

 again and leaning on it till it was as decj) in mud 

 as before. Theoreticallv this might have con- 

 tinued forever, but finally I managed to stagger 

 to dry land without disaster. 



As with the Golden Plover, there is decided 

 difference between the plumages of adult and 

 young, notably so in the case of this S7>ecies. 

 These " pale-bellies " are readily distinguished. 

 They arrive on the New England coast early in 

 September, whereas the adults begin to appear 

 about July 25. The voung linger late in the fall, 

 sometimes being noted well through November. 



Even back in the palmy days when the Golden 

 Plover was sometimes abundant, it seemed to me 



that the Black-breast did not habitually fly about 

 in such large flocks as its relative, nor did these 

 smaller flocks fly as high or perform such sightly 

 evolutions in the air. They were, however, ac- 

 customed, in some localities, to congregate in a 

 \ery large mass on some favorite dry sand-bar 

 or flat, to scatter again when they left the 

 rendez^•ous. 



Photu by H. K. Jub Courtesy nf Huughtun Mifflin Co. 



BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER ASLEEP 



.\Iso like the Golden I'lo\er, thev breed on the 

 Arctic coast and penetrate on the southward 

 migration as far as Peru. But their routes are 

 quite different, and some of them winter on our 

 (^ulf and south Atlantic coasts. 



Hi:ki:i;rt K. Ion. 



GOLDEN PLOVER 



Charadrius dominicus dominicus ( MiilL-r) 



A. O. T'. Number 2;. 



Other Names. — American Golden Plover ; Green 

 Plover; 'rhrcc-tocrl Plover; Whistling Plover; Three- 

 toes ; Common Plover ; Spotted Plover ; Field Plover ; 

 Green-back ; Golden-back ; Brass-back ; Greenhead ; 

 Pale-breast ; Muddy-breast ; Muddy-belly ; Bull-head ; 

 Toad-head; Hawk's eye; Squealer; Field-bird; Pasture- 



See t^olor Plate 39 



bird; Frost-bird; Trout-bird; Prairie-bird; Prairie 

 Pigeon; Pale-belly (young). 



General Description. — Length. 1 1 inches. Upper 

 parts conspicuously spotted with yellow, lower parts 

 lilack. Bill small and slender; no hind tor: wings long. 

 Bobs its head very frequently. 



