478 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



(Chambers, 1904, pp. 139-140). They measure in inches, 1.15 to 

 1.22 by 0.87 to 0.92, and average 1.20 by 0.89 (three sets, seven eggs, 

 in ]\Iiis. Vert. Zool.). Henshaw (1876, p. 269) gives the measurements 

 of three sets as somewhat larger, ranging from 1.22 to 1.30 by 0.89 

 to 0.95. The ground color is pale buff or cream with small super- 

 ficial spots and lines of brownish black, and deeper ones of pale gray. 

 The markings rarely exceed 0.10 inches in length, and are but slightly 

 more numerous about the larger end of the egg than elsewhere. 

 Chambers (loc. cit.) states that the eggs are usually laid at three- 

 day intervals. 



Henshaw (1876, p. 269) gives the following account of the nesting 

 habits of the Snowy Plover at Santa Barbara: 



So slight is the contrast between the eggs and the drifted sand about them 

 that they would be difficult enough to find were it not for the tracks about the 

 nest. As the mates came to relieve each other from setting or to bring each 

 other food, they alighted near the nest, and thus for a little distance about 

 each one [there] was a series of tracks converging to a common center, which 

 too surely betrayed their secret. Great was the alarm of the colony as soon as 

 my presence was known, and, gathering into little knots, they nervously 

 attended my steps, following at a distance with low sorrowful cries. The 

 female, when she found her nest was really discovered, hesitated not to fly 

 close by, and used all the arts which birds of this kind know so well how to 

 employ on like occasions. With wings drooping and trailing on the sand, she 

 would move in front till my attention was secured, when she would fall help- 

 lessly down, and burying her breast in the soft sand, present the very picture 

 of utter helplessness, while the male with the neighboring pairs expressed his 

 sympathy with loud cries. 



After the young are fully fledged in the fall, flocks begin to 

 appear in localities where the species is not known to breed. This is 

 probably due to crowding and competition for food in the vicinity 

 of the nest, and may be expected to continue until the pressure of 

 over-population has been relieved by reduction in numbers. 



The food of the Snowy Plover consists of various insects and prob- 

 ably Crustacea and other marine organisms. A. K. Fisher (1893a., 

 pp. 25-26) recorded it as feeding on a fly [Ephydra hians) which 

 is present in enormous numbers on the shores of Owens Lake. H. C. 

 Bryant (1914e, p. 226) found more than ten water beetles in the 

 stomach of a bird of this species taken at Los Banos, Merced County. 

 The stomach of another bird taken at Los Banos, also contained beetles 

 (Beck, MS). 



The Snowy Plover is classed as a game species merely because of 

 its near relationships with the larger shore birds, which properly are 

 hunted for food or sport. Its insignificant size from a food stand- 

 point and its confiding habits, ought to justify its release from 

 destruction before the gun of the hunter. The species should be 

 accorded complete and continuous protection along with all the other 

 diminutive shore birds which occur within our boundaries. 



