252 Henshaw, Migration of the Pacific Plover. [juiv 



must not be forgotten that neither bv birth nor habits is the plover 

 a swimmer. It is a true wader, and though, Hke all of its family, 

 it can swim when compelled to and can even alight on smooth water 

 and again take wing, it does so probably only in very exceptional 

 instances, and perhaps never when in migration. 



Could we assume that this particular individual made a direct 

 course from the Aleutians to the point where intercepted by the 

 transport, the incident would be valuable as affording a tolerable 

 idea of the limit of the endurance and wing power of a plover. The 

 bird, however may have lost its way and have taken a very indirect 

 course to the point where it was first seen from the ship. Unaware 

 of the proximity of the islands to which it was bound, and which it 

 might have reached in a few hours more, it became confused, and 

 made the fatal mistake of following the ship's course. Before it 

 finally succumbed to fatigue, it followed the ship for about 500 miles. 

 Thus at the least calculation it flew 2500 miles before it succumbed 

 to fatigue, and probably very much further. 



Time of arrival of migrants in Alaska. — As the migration of the 

 plover (and also the turnstone) from the islands begins during April 

 and continues till into May, and possibly even later, the birds 

 should arrive in Alaska at corresponding dates, the flight probably 

 consuming not much more than two days. As a matter of fact, 

 however, the mainland breeding grounds of the plover in Alaska 

 are snow bound till well into May, and Turner states that the 

 Pacific Plover does not arrive at St. jVIichael till about June 1, a 

 statement corroborated by Nelson. Although there is no necessary 

 precise correspondence between the breeding time of the Pacific 

 Plover in Siberia and in Alaska, it is interesting to note the statement 

 of Seebohm that the plover arrives on the Yenesay River, Siberia, 

 June 5; and, referring to water birds generally, he adds that "very 

 few eggs are laid on the tundra before the last week of June." 

 (Geog. Dist. of the Charadriidse, 1888, p. 58.) Where the plover 

 and turnstone, which leave Hawaii early in April, spend the interval 

 till the melting snow bares the hillsides in Alaska and exposes the 

 previous season's crop of Vaccinium and Empetrum berries, upon 

 which the plover in spring chiefly feed, is left to conjecture. As the 

 Aleutian chain is nearly 1200 miles long, however, and as compara- 

 tively little is known of its birds in spring, it is possible that early 



