154 BULLETIN 14 6;, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



SQUATAROLA SQUA-TAROLA (Linnaeus) 

 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER 



HABITS 



I use the above name rather than the latest check list name, 

 cynosiirae because I can not see any valid reason for recognizing a 

 North American race of this cosmopolitan species. A slight average 

 difference in size is of little significance in a species which shows such 

 a wide range of individual variation. Recent investigation has, I 

 believe, convinced even Mr. Bangs that this race, which he described, 

 has no standing. The bird which breeds in northeastern Siberia 

 has been separated under the name hyfoiiielaena; this may be a good 

 race, though material to establish it is rather scanty in this country. 

 Probably it is the Siberian race which breeds on the Bering Sea 

 coast of Alaska. For life-history purposes the species, as a whole, 

 will be considered. 



The black-bellied plover is an aristocrat among shore birds, the 

 largest and strongest of the plovers, a leader of its tribe. It is a 

 distinguished-looking bird in its handsome spring livery of black and 

 white; and its attitude, as it stands like a sentinel on the crest of a 

 sand dune or on some distant mud flat, is always dignified and im- 

 posing. Its wild, plaintive, and musical whistle arouses the enthu- 

 siasm of the sportsman and serves both as a warning and as an invi- 

 tation to the lesser fowl that look to it for leadership. 



Its breeding range is circumpolar, but decidedly spotty ; there are 

 very few places where it breeds at all commonly. On migrations it 

 is widely distributed over nearly all of the Northern Hemisphere. 

 It was never as abundant in this country as the golden plover and 

 apparently never traveled in such immense flocks ; hence it was never 

 slaughtered in such enormous numbers. Moreover, it is much wilder, 

 more wary, and better able to take care of itself ; consequently it has 

 held its own much better and has proven more of a success in the 

 struggle for existence. 



Nevertheless, it has been considerably reduced in numbers during 

 the past 75 years. I am inclined to think that the reduction in num- 

 bers is more apparent than real and that the birds have learned to 

 avoid certain localities, where they were once so abundant and where 

 they have been so persistently pursued by gunners. George H. 

 Mackay (1892) has shown a decided decrease on Nantucket, which 

 he attributes to such a cause. From my own 30 years' experience on 

 Cape Cod I know that this has taken place there; I have noticed 

 a gradual decrease in the numbers of black-bellied plover that come 

 to Chatham and Monomoy during the fall flight, until now I often 



