386 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, 150 



ward migration; found in flight southward from the middle of 

 August to November. 



The golden plover was first recorded from Panama when T. A. 

 Imhof (Auk, 1950, p. 256) saw a flock of a dozen on the parade 

 grounds at Fort Clayton, Canal Zone on October 4, 1942. Loftin 

 (Carib. Journ. Sci., 1963, p. 65) in 1962 at Panama Viejo found 

 2 August 12, another September 23 (statement corrected from that 

 published from data supplied by the author). At Jaque, Darien, in 

 1946 I found them regularly from March 15 to April 13, on the 

 airfield and along the river adjacent, and collected the first specimen 

 for Panama on the date first mentioned. This bird, a male, was in 

 good flesh but was not fat. On the Sabana San Jose, east of the 

 Rio Pacora I recorded them in 1949 on March 22 and 23, and on 

 March 22, 1958, shot one from a flock of a dozen that flew and ran 

 ahead of my jeep. The bird taken on this occasion was a female 

 that was heavy, but with fat that was dry so that it was not difficult 

 to prepare. It appeared that the oily elements normal in such a 

 condition may have been consumed in the first stage of its northward 

 flight from the wintering grounds in Argentina. On April 3, 1955, 

 I recorded a dozen on the mudflats at Panama Viejo, and on March 

 2, 1956, saw another flock of similar size on the golf links near 

 Summit, Canal Zone. None that I have observed have been in 

 breeding plumage. 



CHARADRIUS SEMIPALMATUS Bonaparte: Semipalmated Plover; 

 Chorlitejo Semipalmeado 



Charadrius semipalmatus Bonaparte, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 

 S, Aug. 1825, p. 98. (Coast of New Jersey.) 



A small plover with a dark grayish brown back and a single dark 

 breast band. 



Description. — Length 145 to 160 mm. Breeding plumage, band 

 across center of crown, a narrow line across base of bill, becoming 

 wider on the cheeks, and a broad band across the upper breast 

 black; rest of crown, back, and wing coverts dark grayish brown; 

 primaries and distal half of tail, except tip, black ; rest of under sur- 

 face, tips of primary coverts, and of tail white. 



Winter dress, black markings of summer replaced by dark grayish 

 brown. 



Measurements (from Ridgway, I.e., p. 117). — Males, wing 114- 

 122.5 (119.4), tail 52-57.5 (54.8), culmen 11.5-13 (12.5), tarsus 

 21-24 (22.3) mm. 



