BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. 367 



tliat it is frequently overlooked. It likewi.se is liable to be rubbed off; 

 this accident probably occurred to the specimen figured and described 

 by Edwards, under tbe name of Spotted Plover ; for I have no hesita- 

 tion in pronouncing it to be of the same species with the subject of this 

 article. The bird figured in the Briti.sh Zoology of Pennant, as the 

 Golden Plover (Plate LXXII.), appears to be the young of this species, 

 in its winter dress ; for it is represented with a hind toe, which the true 

 Golden Plover is never furnished with. Hence we must conclude that 

 those authors, who describe the latter as having sometimes a hind toe, 

 confound the young of the two species, which in truth so nearly resem- 

 ble each other in their plumage that it requires a close observation to 

 distinguish them. But the young of the Black-bellied Plover, or 

 present species, may be known by their large head and stout bill ; by 

 their hind toe ; and by the long dusky or black feathers which lie next 

 to the sides, at the junction of the wings. 



In the Manuel d'Ornithologie of Temminek, unquestionably the best 

 work on the birds of Europe which has ever been published, the changes 

 which this species undergoes are clearly detailed ; and its synonymes 

 are so well settled, that the future ornithologist will find his labors much 

 lightened, when the subject of this article, in any stage of plumage, 

 shall come before him. In the excellent Supplement to Montagu's 

 Ornithological Dictionary we are also presented with some valuable re- 

 ferences ; and the editor of this volume with pleasure acknowledges the 

 sources whence he has drawn that information which has enabled him 

 to determine the species. 



