360 KILDEER PLOVER. 



black ; the rest of the lower parts pure white ; upper parts pale olive 

 drab ; along the edges of the auriculars, and hind head, the plumage, 

 where it joins the white, is stained with raw terra sienna ; all the plum- 

 age is darkest in the centre ; the tertials are fully longer than the 

 primaries, the latter brownish black, the shafts and edges of some of 

 the middle ones white ; secondaries, and greater coverts, slightly tipped 

 with white ; the legs are of a pale flesh color ; toes bordered with a 

 narrow edge ; claws and ends of the toes black ; the tail is even, a very 

 little longer than the wings, and of a blackish olive color, with the 

 exception of the two exterior feathers, which are whitish, but generally 

 only the two middle ones are seen. 



The female differs in having no black on the forehead, lores, or 

 breast, these parts being pale olive.* 



Since publishing the foregoing, Mr. T. R. Peale and myself, in an 

 excursion, in the month of May, on the coast of New Jersey, found 

 this species to be pretty common, in the vicinity of Brigantine Beach. 

 We also observed them in various places between Great Egg Harbor 

 and Long Beach. — Cr. Ord. 



Species IV. CHARADRIUS VOOIFEBUS 



KILDEER PLOVER. 



[Plate LIX. Fig. 6.] 

 Arct. Zool. No. 400. — Catesby, i., 71. — Le Kildir, Buff, tiii., 96. f 



This restless and noisy bird is known to almost every inhabitant of 

 the United States, being a common and pretty constant resident. Dur- 

 ing the severity of winter, when snow covers the ground, it retreats to 

 the seashore, where it is found at all seasons ; but no sooner have the 

 rivers broken up, than its shrill note is again heard, either roaming about 

 high in air, tracing the shore of the river, or running amidst the watery 

 flats and meadows. As spring advances, it resorts to the newly ploughed 

 fields, or level plains bare of grass, interspersed with shallow pools ; or, 

 in the vicinity of the sea, dry bare sandy fields. In some such situation 

 it generally chooses to breed, about the beginning of May. The nest 

 is usually slight, a mere hollow, with such materials drawn in around it 



* From Mr. Ord's supplementary volume. 



t Cliaradrius vocifereus, Gme[,. Syst. I., p. 685, No. 3. — Pluvier d, collier de Vir- 

 ginie, Briss. v., p. 68. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 742, No. 6. — PI. Enl. 286. 



