Plovers SHORE AND MARSH BIRDS. 



Season : Common migrant; May, August, and September. 



Breeds: In high northern latitudes. 



Range : Nearly cosmopolitan ; in America, from Greenland and Alaska 

 to the Straits of Magellan ; more or less common in the interior 

 of North America, on the shores of the Great Lakes and the 

 larger rivers. 



The Turnstone has a bill that looks like two sharply 

 pointed ridge-backed pens placed face to face. He uses this 

 as a pry to displace small stones along the shore to secure 

 the various bits of marine life lodging under them. Hence 

 it is more common about the base of rocky cliffs and coves 

 than on smooth, sandy beaches. It is conspicuous for 

 its size, its boldly marked plumage contrasting with its sur- 

 roundings, while Sandpipers mingle with the sands and can 

 be hardly seen at a little distance unless revealed by some 

 abrupt movement. 



FAMILY CHARADRIHXE: PLOVERS. 

 Black-bellied Plover: Charadrius squatarola. 



Length : 11-12 inches. 



Male and Female : Breeding-plumage black and white, seldom seen 

 in United States. Fall plumage, above mottled with black, 

 gray, and yellowish ; beneath whitish. Wings and tail nearly 

 even. Bill long and black ; feet black. Axillary feathers black. 



Season: Migrant; common in autumn. 



Breeds : Far north. 



Range : Nearly cosmopolitan, but chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere, 

 migrating south in winter ; in America, to the West Indies, 

 Brazil, and New Granada. 



The Plovers are wading Shore-birds, feeding on beetles, 

 grasshoppers, worms, larvae, and fresh- water shell-fish. This 

 species breeds in the Arctic regions and appears here in 

 numbers in the fall migration only. It is then fairly, but 

 irregularly, abundant about the marsh-ponds, and is an 

 extremely handsome bird, having a clear, whistling cry. It 

 arrives about the middle of September, after the general 

 migration of the Golden Plover. 



