rT 
CHARADRIIDE, PLOVER. —GEN. 189, 190. 243 
all near Vanellus proper, and a part of them are 4-toed. Our species are found 
along the seashore, by the water’s edge in other open places, and in dry plains and 
fields. They all perform extensive migrations, appearing with great regularity in 
the spring and fall, and most of them breed far northward. They are all more or 
less gregarious except when breeding. They run and fly with great rapidity ; the 
yoice is a mellow whistle ; the food is chiefly of an animal nature. The eggs are 
commonly four in number, speckled, very large at one end and pointed at the other, 
placed with the small ends together in a slight nest or mere depression in the ground. 
The sexes are generally similar, but the changes with age and season are creat. 
Ozss. The European lapwing, Vanellus cristatus, is reported by Mr. Dall from 
Alaska, where, however, specimens were not taken. (Alaska and its Resources, p.586.) 
189. Genus SQUATAROLA Cuvier. 
Black-bellied Plover.  Beetle-headed Plover. Whistling Field Plover. 
Bull-head. Ox-eye. A small hind toe, hardly 4 long; plumage speckled. 
Adult in breeding season (rarely seen in the U. S.): face and entire under 
parts black, upper parts variegated 
with black, and white or ashy; tail 
barred with black and white; quills 
dusky, with large white patches. Adult 
at other times, and young: below white, 
more or less shaded with gray, the 
throat and breast speckled with dusky ; 
above blackish, speckled with white or 
yellowish; the rump white with dark 
bars; legs dull bluish. Old birds 
changing show every grade, from a few 
isolated black feathers on the under parts, to numerous large black patches. 
11-12; wing 7 or more; tail 3; bill 1-14; tarsus 2; middle toe and claw 1}. 
A bird commonly diffused over most parts of the world. Wuts., vii, 41, pl. 
57,f.4; Aup., v, 199, pl. 315; Nurv., ii, 26; Cass. in Bp., 697. HELVETICA. 
Fic. 154. Black-bellied Plover. 
190. Genus CHARADRIUS Linnzus. 
Golden Plover. Frost-bird. Bull- 
head. No hind toe; plumage speckled 
above, and in the breeding season black 
below, as in the last species, but much 
of the speckling bright yellow, and the 
rump and upper tail coverts like the 
back ; forehead, and a broad line over 
the eye to the nape, white ; tail feathers 
grayish-brown, with imperfect white or 
= ashy bars; axillars gray or ashy. At 
Fig. 155. Golden Plover; winter plumage. other times the under parts nearly as 
in the last species. 10-11; wing 7 or less; tail under 3; bill 1 or less; 
tarsus 12; middle toe and élaw 14. N. Am., abundant in the U. S. in 
