MOUNTAIN PLOVER 263 



Point, March 10, Frogmore, March 20, and Mount Pleasant, March 

 26; North Carolina, Fort Macon, April 15,' and Pea and Bodie 

 Islands, April 24; and Virginia, Toms Brook, April 8. 



Fall migration. — Almost nothing is known alx)ut the fall migration 

 of this plover but Wayne (1910) says that it remains on the beaches 

 of South Carolina '' until September 22, or perhaps until October." 



Casual records. — Wilson plovers have been noted or collected on 

 several occasions outside of their normal range. Most of these have 

 naturally been in New York and on the coast of New England. 

 Among them are : New York, three at Far Rockaway, May IT, 1879, 

 one at Shinnecock Bay, May 16, 1884, one at Good Ground, May 28, 

 1879, Orient, July 3, 1915, and Long Beach, July 1, 1872; Connecti- 

 cut, taken once at Stratford, and seen at Bridgeport on July 28, 

 1888; Massachusetts, Gurnet Point, August 22, 1877, one at Ipswich, 

 May 8, 1904, and about 25 reported as seen at Dennis, September 4, 

 1920; Nova Scotia, one at Brier Island, April 28, 1880; and one 

 from Halifax that is preserved in the British Museum; and Cali- 

 fornia, one taken at Pacific Beach, June 27, 1894, and another seen 

 at Imperial Beach, May 11, 1918. 



Egg dates. — Virginia: 22 records. May 4 to June 20; 11 records. 

 May 27 to June 6. South Carolina and Georgia: 50 records, April 

 14 to June 21; 25 records. May 17 to June 10. Florida: 26 records, 

 April 2 to July 10; 13 records, May 12 to June 11. Texas: 11 rec- 

 ords, April 7 to June 18; 6 records, April 20 to May 19. 



PODASOCYS MONTANUS (J. K. Townsend) 

 MOUNTAIN PLOVER 



HABITS 



The above name is not especially appropriate for this species. 

 The name. Rocky Mountain plover, would have been better, for its 

 breeding range is mainly in the Rocky Mountain plateau. It fre- 

 quents elevated ground but it is not a bird of the mountains but of the 

 dry plains. Coues (1874) savs: 



While most other plovers haunt the vicinity of v^'ater, to which some are 

 almost confined, the present species is not in the least degree of aquatic habits, 

 but, on the contrary, resorts to plains as dry and sterile as any of our country — 

 sometimes the grassy prairies, with shore larks and titlarks, various ground 

 sparrows, and the burrowing owl ; sometimes sandy deserts, where the sage 

 brush and the "chamizo," the prickly pear and the Spanish bayonet, grow in 

 full luxuriance. It approaches the Pacific, but will never be found on the beach 

 itself, with maritime birds, nor even on the adjoining mud-flats or marshes, 

 preferring the firm, grassy fields further back from the water. 

 231&— 29 18 



