Plovers 



^a;/g-^— North America east of the Rockies ; nesting from coast of 

 Virginia northward to Newfoundland; winters in West 

 Indies. 



Season — Summer resident, March to September; most abundant 

 in autumn migrations. 



Very slight differences in the habits of plovers that haunt our 

 beaches have been noted by the most tireless students, and were 

 it not for the piping plover's notes there would be nothing be- 

 yond a reference to its stronger maritime preferences and more 

 southerly nesting range to add to the account of the ring-neck. 

 The piper, much lighter in color, is the lightest species that visits 

 us. It nests among the shingle on our beaches from Virginia to 

 Maine and beyond, where it is next to impossible to discover the 

 finely speckled drab eggs that imitate the sand perfectly; and 

 possibly because it does not pass half its year in Arctic seclusion, 

 as some other plovers do, it is not quite so gentle and confiding 

 as they — this is the sum of its peculiarities. Its pathetically small 

 size, scarcely larger than that of an English sparrow, should be, 

 but is not, a sufficient protection from the gun. 



"It cannot be called a 'whistler' nor even a 'piper' in an 

 ordinary sense," says Mr. Langille. " Its tone has a particularly 

 striking and musical quality. Oueep, queep, qtieep-o, or peep, 

 peep, peep-Io, each syllable being uttered with a separate, distinct, 

 and somewhat long drawn enunciation, may imitate its peculiar 

 melody, the tone of which is round, full, and sweet, reminding 

 one of a high key on an Italian hand-organ or the hautboy in a 

 church organ." The sweet, low notes, it should be added, have 

 an almost ventriloqual quality also, that often makes it difficult to 

 locate the bird by the ear alone. 



Retiring to the dunes and meadows back of the beach only 

 to sleep or rest when the tide is high, we most frequently see 

 this active little sprite running nimbly along the wet sands, 

 poking among the shells, chasing out after the waves, and hur- 

 riedly picking up bits of food before being chased in by them, or 

 flying above the crests short distances along the beach, usually to 

 escape a deluge from the combing breakers. All its movements 

 are alert, quick, graceful. At Muskegat, where this plover's nests 

 are found among the terns', the plover loses little by comparison 

 with those preeminently graceful birds. Around the great lakes 



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