240 BULLETIN 146^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and a circle of small brownish tips around the edge of it. The wings 

 and thighs are marked with brown spots. A white collar encircles 

 the hind neck, and the entire under parts are white. The ju venal 

 plumage appears first on the scapulars and sides of the breast, then 

 on the remaining underparts, back, and crown; the last parts to 

 become feathered are the throat, belly, and rump; then the wing 

 quills appear, and lastly the tail. In fresh ju venal plumage the 

 feathers of the crown and mantle are " drab gray " or " smoke gray," 

 broadly tipped with " pinkish buff," giving a decidedly pinkish 

 tone at first; but these pink tips soon fade and wear away, leaving a 

 dull-gray crown and mantle, faintly mottled with pale tints of buffy 

 and dusky. The black bands on the forehead and neck are entirely 

 lacking. 



The first winter plumage is acquired by a limited body molt early 

 in the fall and by wear and fading of much of the plumage that is 

 retained. It is like the adult winter except for the worn and faded 

 edgings on what juvenal feathers are retained, mainly wing coverts 

 and scapulars. A partial prenuptial molt early in the spring pro- 

 duces a nuptial plumage which is practically adult. 



Adult^ have a complete molt in late summer and fall — August to 

 October — and a partial prenuptial molt in late winter and spring, 

 mainly in March. In winter plumage the crown and mantle are 

 " pale ecru drab," without the pale edgings, with no black frontal 

 band, and with a restricted brownish instead of black collar. The 

 black frontal band and the black collar, characteristic of the nuptial 

 plumage, are usually acquired in March; the extent of the black 

 collar increases with age and the complete collar probably indicates 

 an old bird.] 



'^ood. — Arthur H. Howell (1924) says: "The food of this plover, 

 as indicated by the contents of four stomachs secured in Alabama, 

 consists principally of marine worms, fly larvae, and beetles." E. H. 

 Forbush (1925) lists the following: "Insects, crustaceans, mollusks, 

 and other small marine animals and their eggs." 



The feeding habits of the piping plover as it hunts for food along 

 our beaches are characteristic. In marked contrast to the nervous 

 haste of the sanderling and the rapid darting about with lightning- 

 like thrusts of the bill of the smallest sandpipers, the behavior of 

 the plover is leisurely, and as they pick up food from the sand the 

 movements of the head are deliberate. Three or four may sweep 

 down the beach together, close to the sand, but when they alight, 

 after a moment of stillness, they separate, each bird running a little 

 way, isolating itself from its companions (another point of differ- 

 ence from the sanderling, etc., which in migration tend to keep close 

 in a flock while feeding). Generally they begin at once to hunt for 



