i6o 



KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 



Subgenus CHARADRIUS Linn. 



CHARADRIUS DOMINICUS MiiH. 

 American Qolden Plover. 



Summer plumage : r>ack and upper parts smoky black ; feathers marked and edged with 

 yellow and brown ; sides of the breast whitish ; rest of under parts, throat, and sides of the head, 

 including- eye, black ; forehead whitish, a stripe extending backwards over the eye ; bill black. 



Winter plumage : Upper parts brownish, feathers marked with dull tawny or buff ; under 

 parts are dull white streaked with ashy brown or gray on tlie breast and sides. 



Length. 10.25; Wing, 7 ; Tarsus, 1.55: Bill, .92. 



This .species may always be distinguished in any phunage from the 

 Black-breast Ployer by the gray axillars and the absence of the small riuli- 



mentary hind toe. 



It ranges from the Arctic regions to South America, being common on 



the coast during migration. It was at one 

 time abundant in New England in the early 

 fall, but its numbers haye de- 

 creased greatly within the past 

 few years. It is not a common 

 y^// ^^^^V hird in Florida, although it is 



"^^ ^^^^^B occasional!}' taken in the State. 



It breeds in the far North : the 

 eggs are buff colored or brownish 

 white mottled and marked with 

 chocolate brown. 



Genu.s /EGIALITIS Bote. 

 Subgenus OXYECHUS Rkich. 



>EQIALITIS VOCIFERA (//////.). 

 .Killdeer Plover. 



Adult: Crown and back brownish gray, feathers tipped witli rufous: a ring around the 

 neck, lores, and a patch on the breast black; forehead white ; throat and spot behind tlie eye 

 and a band around the neck white ; lower breast and belly white ; tail coverts and rump 

 bright rufous; tail rufous and gray tipped with black and white; bill black. 



Length, 10.65: Wing, 6.55 ; 'I'arsus, 1.40; Bill, .75. 



The Killdeer Plover ranges on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundhuul 

 to the northern part of South America. It is a rare bird on the New Eng- 



