PLOVERS 191 



similar localities where they can obtain the worms, insects, 

 mollusks and small crustaceans they like so well. In such 

 places they may be found in small flocks of six to twelve run- 

 ning along until they finally take flight to close into a compact 

 little flock and pass along with a few short notes which are most 

 characteristic and equally as hard to reproduce. 



They breed both along the ocean and inland about the ponds 

 and rivers of the Arctic regions. Three or four eggs are laid 

 and these are greenish buff or buffy white in color with heavy 

 spots and blotches of chocolate, brown and blackish. Three 

 eggs from Fessiujak, Labrador, were taken June 15, 1896. 

 The nest was said to be on the ground in a bog twenty miles 

 back from the open sea, and was a mere hollow in the earth 

 with a few leaves. These eggs, now before me, measure 1.34 

 X 0.93, 1.34 X 0.95, 1.31 x 0.98. Dr. Dwight records the 

 species as breeding on Sable Island, Nova Scotia and describes 

 the song of the male as consisting of a harsh resonant "tschup" 

 uttered while sweeping about on the wing near the ground, and 

 repeated many times in succession. 



277. V Mg'ialitis meloda (Ord). Piping Plover. 

 Plumage of summer adults : front of crown and a band on either side of 

 breast, which is joined into a continuous bar across the breast in the most 

 mature birds, black; forehead, ring around neck, outer tail feathers and 

 under parts white ; upper parts and inner tail feathers ashy. Plumage of 

 winter adults: similar with the darker colorations brownish gray instead 

 of black as in summer. Immature plumage : differs from winter plumage 

 in that the feathers of the back are bordered with very pale buff. Wing 

 4.50 to 4.91 ; culmen 0.48 ; tarsus 0.91. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America, breeding from Virginia to Newfound- 

 land ; wintering from Florida and the West Indies southward. 



County Records. — Cumberland ; rare summer resident, (Brown, C. B. P. p. 

 25); received one in 1902 taken near Portland, (Lord). Sagadahoc; very 

 scarce in August, (Spinney). Washington ; rare, said to breed on the 

 islands, (Boardman). 



Though formerly occurring as a breeding bird along the 

 western coast of Maine, there seems reason to believe that the 



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