224 BULLETIN 146, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



calling to others as they alight, or when standing on the sand, they 

 often emit a single note, sweet and clear, but at times harsh and 

 rasping. 



Field marks. — The semipalmated plover is easily distinguished in 

 the field from the killdeer by its smaller size, its single neck ring, and 

 by the absence of the rufous color on the rump. Its darker colors 

 distinguish it from the piping plover. From the sandpipers, even at 

 a distance on the sand, it is distinguished most readily by its plover 

 behavior, as already described. In flying they show a faint white 

 line on the wings which contrasts with the general brown of the upper 

 parts. The neck ring is noticeable both in the flying and walking 

 bird, and the orange yellow of the tarsi and base of the bill can be 

 made out with glasses. In the young, which arrive on the Massachu- 

 setts coast about a month behind their elders in the autumn migration, 

 the ring is gray instead of glossy black, and the tarsi are pale yellow. 

 It may be distinguished from the Wilson's plover by the fact that that 

 bird has a much longer bill, wholly black. 



Game. — Although this little plover was formerly shot as game in 

 the same manner as is described under the least and semipalmated 

 sandpipers, it is now protected at all seasons. Besides its value as a 

 destroyer of harmful insects, its greatest value is aesthetic. On the 

 beaches of the sea and lakes its graceful flight, handsome plumage, 

 and confiding ways are a source of great pleasure, and on this account 

 alone it is worthy of protection for all time. 



Fall. — The fall migration, as stated above, is a long and leisurely 

 one, differing markedly in this respect from the spring migration. 

 When a favorable spot is found, abounding in food and free from 

 disturbances, these birds are apt to tarry there for some time. Here 

 they grow fat and here they indulge in courtship performances as 

 if it were the spring of the year. On beaches and marshes, where in 

 former times gunners, hidden in blinds, were lurking to destroy 

 them, all is now peace and quiet for these little birds, and their 

 journey southward is undisturbed. 



Of the fall migration Wells W. Cooke (1912) writes: 



At one of the most southern breeding places near York Factory, Keewatin, in 

 1900, the most advanced young were still in the downy stage July 10 (Preble), 

 and yet by this time the species is already in full fall migration, and the earliest 

 individuals have appeared several hundred miles south of the breeding range. 

 * * * Though most semipalmated plover migrate early, a few stay until 

 freezing weather. 



The adults migrate first, while the young rarely arrive on the Mas- 

 sachusetts coast before August 15. 



'Winter. — Although the majority of the species winter south of 

 the United States, as is shown under " winter range," some are to be 



