BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 193 



middle toe like a Crow. I have only once or twice seen them jerk or bob 

 nervously, but have watched many times for this habit without finding it. 



Their call consists of two notes of singular sweetness and wildness. It has 

 a plaintive quality and fits well the lonely beach with its resounding breakers. 

 At times, when approaching their fellows, they emit a low single or conversa- 

 tional note, frequently repeated. 



On June 25th, 1903, during a prolonged northeast storm, I found two of 

 these birds on the beach with three Knots. One of the Plover was in mottled 

 black and white plumage ; the other, in splendid, full black plumage, I secured. 

 It was a male with testicles 0.20 of an inch long, quite fat and with nothing in 

 its stomach but a small amphipod crustacean. The plumage was only slightly 

 worn with the exception of the primaries of the left wing, the first three of 

 which had lost from an inch to an inch and a quarter, not enough to interfere with 

 the flight. It occurred to me that this might be accounted for by the scraping 

 of this wing on the ground while the bird was strutting for the admiration of the 

 female, and that he with his companions had been caught in the storm and 

 driven south. I have never noticed this condition of the primaries in other 

 Plover and suppose that in this case these primaries had not been moulted for 

 some time owing to some disease. It not infrequently happens that an occa- 

 sional bird spends the summer, however. Between the full adult nuptial plumage 

 and the winter plumage there are all degrees to be found, both in the spring and 

 in the early autumn flight. From the various stages of plumages seen in the 

 spring, it is evident either that there are great variations in the time of moult in 

 different individuals, or that the full black-breasted plumage is not attained the 

 first year. Some actual counts from my notes may be of interest here : 



May 15th, 1904, six 5. squatarola on the beach at Ipswich ; only one in full 

 nuptial plumage, two nearly "pale-belly," the rest with more or less black 

 feathers in their breasts, these appearing first on the lower breast. 



May 20th, 1004, seven, only one in full plumage, the rest showing all 

 degrees down to the " pale-belly." 



May 2jt/i, igo-f, flock of 25 ; eight are in full black and white plumage, the 

 rest show all degrees of blackness on the breast, except four or five that appear 

 devoid of black feathers. 



I have shot specimens in the spring that appeared nearly white on the 

 breast, but on close inspection showed scattered black feathers. In the autumn, 

 the adults precede, but as July and August pass on, the number of black breasts 

 constantly diminishes and the number of birds with an augmenting amount of 

 white and fewer black feathers increases as the moulting to the " pale-belly " 

 winter plumage proceeds. Many of these latter ragged birds are found even 

 among the early arrivals in July. They may be the very early and vigorous 



