Descriptive List 



HO 



Fig. 112. Piping Plovkr. 



Genus Ochthodromus (Reichenb.) 

 133. Ochthodromus wilsonius wilsonius {Orel). Wilson's Plover. 



Ad. d'. — Lores, front of crown, and a band on the breast black; rest of underparts, forehead, 

 and an indistinct ring on the nape white ; sides of the head and nape sometimes witli rufous mark- 

 ings; cheeks, crown, and back brownish gray; inner tail-feathers fuscous, outer ones becoming 

 white. Ad. 9 • — Similar, but black replaced by brownish gray with rusty on breast. Juv. — 

 Similar to 9, but upperparts margined with grayish. L., 7.50; W., 4.50; Tar., 1.10; B., .80. 

 (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. — Southern States, breeding from Virginia southward; winters from Florida to Central 

 America. 



Range in North Carolina. — Coastal region in summer; breeds. 



Fig. 113. Wilson's Plover. 



The Wilson's Plover may always be known among its near relatives by the com- 

 paratively large size of the bill. In North Carolina it is one of the most common 

 and widely distributed beach-nesting birds. Here, on the wide, midulating stretches 

 of sand, where shells and ocean flotsam abound, this little plover makes its nest 

 and rears its downy young. With an inconspicuous coloration that harmonizes 

 well with its surroundings, it is at all times difficult to distinguish. A rapidly 

 twinkling and moving blur among the shells on the dazzhng sand is about all that 

 the sun-tired eye catches as the bird runs swiftly from the neighborhood of its 

 nest. Ghostlike and intangible, it seems to glide along. 



The nest is a mere hollow in the sand, and both eggs and nest are as inconspicuous 

 and difficult to detect as the bird itself. Nesting usually takes place in May, though 

 the species is with us commonly from April to September. 



