Species III. CHARADRIUS WILSONIUS. 



WILSON'S PLOVER. 



[Plate LXXIII. Fig. 5.] 



Of this neat and prettily marked species I can find no account, and 

 have concluded that it has hitherto escaped the eye of the naturalist. 

 The bird, of which the figure in the plate is a correct resemblance, was 

 shot the thirteenth of May, 1813, on the shore of Cape Island, New 

 Jersey, by my ever-regretted friend ; and I have honored it with his 

 name. It was a male, and was accompanied by another of the same 

 sex, and a female, all of which were fortunately obtained. 



This bird very much resembles the Ring Plover, except in the length 

 and color of the bill, its size, and in wanting the yellow eyelids. The 

 males and females of this species differ in their markings, but the Ring 

 Plovers nearly agree. We conversed with some sportsmen of Cape 

 May, who asserted that they were acquainted with these birds, and that 

 they sometimes made their appearance in flocks of considerable num- 

 bers ; others had no knowledge of them. That the species is rare, we 

 were well convinced, as we had diligently explored the shore of a con- 

 siderable part of Cape May, in the vicinity of Great Egg Harbor, many 

 times, at different seasons, and had never^ seen them before. How long 

 they remain on our coast, and where they winter, we are unable to say. 

 From the circumstance of the oviduct of the female being greatly 

 enlarged, and containing an egg half grown, apparently within a week 

 of being ready for exclusion, we concluded that they breed there. 

 Their favorite places of resort appear to be the dry sand flats on the 

 seashore. They utter an agreeable piping note ; and run swiftly. 



This species is eight inches in length, and fifteen and a half in 

 extent ; the bill is black, stout, and an inch long, the upper mandible 

 projecting considerably over the lower; front white, passing on each 

 side to the middle of the eye above, and bounded by a band of black 

 of equal breadth ; lores black ; eyelids white ; eye large and dark ; 

 from the middle of the eye, backwards, the stripe of white becomes 

 duller, and extends for half an inch ; the crown, hind head and auricu- 

 lars, are drab olive ; the chin, throat, and sides of the neck for an inch, 

 pure white, passing quite round the neck, and narrowing to a point 

 behind; the upper breast below this is marked with a broad band of jet 



(359) 



