PIPING PLOVER. 165 



It is probable that a few stop and raise their brood by the way, 

 for in Manitoba, where the species is abundant as a migrant, Macoun 

 says : " Abundant in company with the Killdeer, and evidently breed- 

 ing, as I saw young with them at the Salt Springs on Red Deer 

 River, July 22nd, 1881, at Lake Manitoba." 



^GIALITIS MELODA (Ord.). 

 123. Piping Plover. (277) 



Above, very pale ashy-brown; the black bands narrow, often imperfect; 

 bill, colored as in the last, but shorter and stumpy ; edges of eyelids, colored ; 

 no evident web between inner and middle toes, and only a slight one between 

 middle and outer. Length, about 7 inches ; wing, 4^ ; tail, 2. 



Hab. — Eastern Province of North America, breeding from the coast of New 

 Jersey (at least formerly) northward; in winter, West Indies. 



Eggs, four, deposited among the shingle of the beach, clay color, marked 

 with spots of brownish-black, not exceeding a pin's head in size. 



The Piping Plover is a more southern bird than the Ring-neck, 

 and evidently does not penetrate far into Ontario. I have met with 

 it at Hamilton Beach, but only on two occasions. It has also been 

 found on the island at Toronto, but is more common along the north 

 shore of Lake Erie, and Mr. Saunders reports it as breeding at Point 

 Pelee, at the western end of that lake. When sitting quietly among 

 the shingle of the beach, the colors of this little bird harmonize so 

 well with its surroundings that quite a number may be close at 

 hand without being observed. The birds seem aware of this, and if 

 suspicious of danger, sit perfectly still till it is time to fly, when they 

 rise simultaneously and move off with a soft, plaintive, piping note. 



In looking over Mr. Thompson's "Birds of Manitoba," I was 

 surprised to find this species reported as occurring there, Macoun 

 having " shot it in company with some sanderlings on the shore of 

 Lake Manitoba on the 12th June, 1881." Its centre of abundance 

 during the summer is along the Atlantic coast, from the Carolinas 

 north to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



