CHAPTER XI 



SHORE-BIRD SHOOTING {CONTINUED) 



THE PLOVERS 



( CIiaradriidcB) 



The plover family contains almost as many- 

 species as the sandpiper-snipe group, and like it 

 the members are found in all parts of the world. 

 Many of them are very beautiful birds, and, among 

 the species not occurring in North America, adorn- 

 ments such as a crested head or a spur on the 

 wing are occasionally present. They are swift- 

 flying birds with very long wings which reach 

 when folded to the end of the tail. They are 

 gregarious in their habits except in the breeding 

 season, and the journey of the entire length of 

 North and South America, from their summer to 

 their winter homes, is no more of a task to some 

 of the plovers than it is to certain sandpipers. 

 Other species are practically sedentary, but none 

 of these occur in North America. Fourteen 

 species with two subspecies have been recorded 

 within our limits, but several are present only as 

 stragglers. They frequent the shores and marshes, 

 but by no means exclusively, some preferring the 



451 



