452 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



life. Nevertheless when fat the Hudsonian is by many people con- 

 sidered a delicacy. But from a sporting standpoint its chief claim 

 comes from its wariness and the resulting difficulty of securing a 

 sizable bag. Many of the hunters along the southern California 

 coast use a .22 rifle when after this game, finding that this affords 

 better sport than if a shotgun were used. With either gun, the bag 

 is not liable to be very large, as the birds are well schooled in the 

 art of self-preservation, quickly learning to avoid dangerous stretches 

 of the beach. This habit, and the restricted, seacoast paths of migra- 

 tion, and the remoteness of the breeding grounds, have all doubtless 

 been factors in its preservation. The Hudsonian Curlew will prob- 

 ably remain with us longer than any other of our large shore birds, 

 and, with adequate provisions for protection, may even constitute a 

 permanent game asset. 



. Black-bellied Plover 



Squatarola squatarola (Linnaeus) 



Other names — Black-breasted Plover; Beetle-head; Bull-head, part; Whistl- 

 ing Field Plover; Swiss Plover; Charadrius squatarola; Charadrius helveticus ; 

 Squatarola helvetica. 



Description — Adult male in late spring and summer: Forehead, broad stripe 

 over eye, and eyefids, pure white; top of head and hind neck grayish white, 

 with some mottling of blackish on back of head; sides of head, chin and throat, 

 continuously deep black; bill slate black; iris dark hazel brown; feathers of 

 back, rump and tertials, brownish black broadly tipped with drab or white, 

 giving a conspicuously mottled effect; upper tail coverts and bases of tail 

 feathers, chiefly white; terminal portions of tail feathers barred with varying 

 shades of brown, the latter color lightest on outermost ones; outer surface of 

 closed wing brownish drab, the feathers irregularly margined with white; 

 primaries and primary coverts brownish black, the former with much white 

 on inner webs toward bases; shafts of primaries white toward tip; edge of 

 wing mottled light brown and white; lining of wing white, except hindmost 

 under coverts which together with much of under surfaces of flight feathers 

 are dusky; axillars solidly black; shoulder region conspicuously white in con- 

 tinuation with stripe over eye and behind ear; breast, sides, and forepart of 

 belly, solidly black, continuous with that of throat and chin (this black may 

 be interrupted by scattered white feathers which remain over from the winter 

 plumage) ; rest of under surface white, save that outermost under tail coverts 

 have black spots on their outer edges; feet and legs black. Adult female in 

 late spring and summer: Similar to adult male at same season, but white mark- 

 ings on head and back dingy or replaced by drab, and black of lower surface 

 duller, with brown tinge. Adults and immatures, both sexes, in late fall, winter 

 and early spring: Top of head, hind neck, back and rump, drab brown, the 

 feathers more or less narrowly tipped with white; forehead, stripe to and over 

 eye, and eyelids, dull white, more or less flecked with ashy brown; sides of 

 head and foreneck whitish narrowly streaked with ashy brown; chin white; 

 rump, upper and under tail coverts, and tail, as in summer; outer surface of 



