THE PIPING PLOVER. 



NO. 222. 



PIPING PLOVER. 



A. O. U. No. 2". /Egialitis meloda (Orel.). 



Description. — Adult male in summer: Upper parts pale brownish gray, the 

 Eorecrown black and a black band on the side of the breast, not meeting its fellow 

 m fronl "i- behind; a band on forehead, a cervical collar continuous with throat, 

 and remaining under parts, pure white; tail fuscous, becoming white laterally; 

 primaries dusk}' with partially white shafts, and corresponding white spaces cen- 

 trally on webs; greater coverts and secondaries mostly white; bill yellow or orange 

 at base, blackening toward tip. Adult female, ami male in winter: Similar, but 

 black' of crown and sides of breast reduced to brownish gray. Young: Similar, 

 but leathers of upper parts edged with whitish. Length 6.50-7.50 ( 165. 1-190.5 ) ; 

 wing 4.7" 1 1 19.4 1 ; tail 2. jo 155.0) ; bill .48 | 12.2) ; tarsus .87 (22.1). 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size, but appearing larger ; much paler above 

 than other species; breast band incomplete. 



Nesting. — Not definitely known to breed in Ohio. ''Eggs, 3 to 4, creamy 

 white, finely spotted or speckled with chocolate." Av. size, 1.24 x .95 (31.5 x 

 24. 1 I ( Chapman). 



General Range. — Eastern North America breeding from the coast of Vir- 

 ginia northward to Newfoundland ; in winter. West Indies. 



Range in Ohio. — Not common migrant on Lake Erie; rare or casual in the 

 interior. Is conjectured to have bred near Lake Erie. 



IT is ma difficult to distinguish this bird by the generally lighter tone 

 of its plumage, and by its incomplete collar: but to say that it differs thus 

 Mid so in habit from other small Plovers. — that is a task to which very few- 

 are equal, and one which the author must modestly disclaim. This Plover 

 enjoys a more southerly distribution than do the other species, and is even 

 more largely confined to the sea-coasts and the shores of the larger bodies 

 of water. It is almost never found along streams and ponds in the interior, 

 and is no longer commonly seen on the Lake Erie shore. Years ago Mr. 

 Winslow surmised that the bird bred in the vicinity of Cleveland, and it is 

 km mil to have done so on Lake Michigan. Because of its southern range 

 it lias felt more keenly the unequal struggle against the white burden-bearer, 

 and unless better counsels prevail against the senseless lust for its thimbleful 

 of meat, we shall have to record its extinction at no very distant date. 



Rev. J. 11. Langille has observed this bird more accuratelv perhaps 



than anyone else in recent times. He says, "The Piping Plover cannot be 



called a 'whistler," nor even a 'piper,' in an ordinary sense. Its tone has 



particularly striking and musical quality. Queep, queep, queep-o, or peep, 



peep, peep-lo, each syllable being uttered with a separate, distinct, and some- 



