164 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Its favorite resorts are pasture fields or waste places near water, 

 where it spends much of its time on the ground, sometimes running 

 with great speed, or sitting quietly as if aware that it is more likely 

 to escape observation in that way than by moving. It can scarcely 

 be called gregarious, yet, in the fall, when the young birds are 

 getting strong on the wing, they may be seen in companies of ten or 

 a dozen, visiting the muddy shores of streams and inlets, till about 

 the end of September, when they all move off south. 



It is common during summer in Manitoba and the North-West, 

 but is not named amons; the " Birds of Alaska." 



Subgenus ^GIALITIS Boie. 

 ^GIALITIS SEMIPALMATA Bonap. 



122. Semipalmated Plover. (274) 



Above, dark ashy -brown with an olivaceous sliade ; below, white ; very 

 broad coronal and pectoral black bars in the adult in spring ; in fall and in the 

 young the coronal bar hardly evident; the pectoral, grayish-brown; edges of 

 eyelids, bright orange ; bill, moderately short aiul stout, orange or yellow, black 

 tipped ; legs, yellowish ; toes, conspicuously semipalmate. Length, about 7 

 inches; wing, 4f ; tail, about 2J rounded. 



Hab. — Ai"ctic and subarctic America, migrating south throughout tropical 

 America, as far as Brazil and Peru. 



Nest, a depression in the ground, lined with dry grass. 



Eggs, four, clay color, marked with blackish-brown. 



The Semipalmated is a solid, plump little bird of very pleasing 

 plumage, particularly in spring, when the colors are clear and 

 decided. In company with other beach birds, it is found along the 

 shores of the lakes in Ontario from the middle till the end of May. 

 In the fall it is again seen in increased numbers in similar places till 

 about the end of September, when it disappears for the season. Dr. 

 Coues found the Ring-necks breeding abundantly in Labrador, and 

 mostly remaining there till the beginning of September. The dis- 

 tance between their summer and winter home is very great, but their 

 flight is rapid, and as they seem to know the way, the journey is 

 quickly made. 



They have been found breeding in the latter part of June on the 

 Arctic coast and in the Anderson River regions, as well as on the 

 islands off the Alaskan coast and at the mouth of the Yukon. 



