BAY BIRDS. 32? 



The black-bellied plover, bull-head, or ox-eye {Squat- 

 arola helvetica), is one of the commonest of the family. 

 The face and under parts are black ; the superior parts are 

 variegated with black, white, and cinerous; and the tail 

 is barred with black and white. This species varies so 

 much in plumage at different seasons that it is frequently 

 mistaken for its close comjDanion, the whistling plover, 

 yet both can readily be distinguished apart. The gold- 

 en plover, which is also known as the bull-head, frost- 

 bird, and whistling plover {Charadrnis fulvus, var. viV- 

 (jinicus), is smaller than the preceding, but its flesh is 

 equally as good. It is scattered throughout the country, 

 and is found feeding on prairies and sand bars in immense 

 flocks during the autumn. Its back is speckled; the under 

 parts are black during the breeding season, and dotted 

 with the bright yellow spots from which it derives the 

 name of golden plover; the forehead, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts are white; it has a whitish line over the eye; 

 and the tail is grayish-brown, with white or ashy bars. 

 The female is rather grayish. This bird has received the 

 name of prairie pigeon from some of the western farmers, 

 owing to the vast flocks that sweep over the plains in the 

 spring and autumn, and devour the grasshoppers which 

 sometimes prove a scourge to growing crops. It winters 

 on the grassy ranges of the South, and leaves for the 

 North in the early part of April, reaching such re- 

 gions as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Manitoba about the 

 tenth. It is fond of frequenting burnt prairies, plowed 

 fields, and bare pastures, being so partial to the latter 

 that it will return to them even after it is driven away 

 by fowlers. It is found in sheep pastures in large num- 

 bers, as sheep are such close feeders that they leave but 

 little grass to cover the earth. It is sure to be a resident 

 of fields that are being plowed, as it often follows the 

 plow to pick up the worms, which it knows by experience 

 are brought to the surface. As it flies close to the ground 



