232 ZOOLOGY. 



months of April and October. It associates with the small sandpipers along the shores of the 

 bays and estuaries, and though apparently feeding on the same food, it picks it up on the 

 surface of the ground instead of probing in the mud or sand. C. 



SQUATAROLA HELVETICA, (Linn.) Cuv. 



Swiss Plover ; Black-bellied Plover. 



Tringa helvetica, LINN. Syst. Nat. 1, 1766, 250. 



Squatarola helvetica, Cuv. R. A. 1817. BAIRD & CASSIN, Gen. Kep. Birds, 697. 



Charadnus helveticus, LICHT. Verz. 1827, No. 728. AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 280 ; pi. 324. IB. Syn. 421. IB. 



Birds Amer. V, 1842, 199 ; pi. 315. 

 Tringa squatarola, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 252. 

 Charadrius apricarius, WILSON, Am. Orn. VII, 1813, 41. 



FIGURES. Buffon, PI. Eul. 853, 854, 923. Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, pi. 57, fig. 4. Aud. B. of Am. pi. 334 ; oct. ed. V, 

 pi. 315. Naumann, B. of Germany, pi. 178. Gould, B. of Eur. IV, pi. 290. 



SP CH. Bill and legs strong ; wings long ; a very small rudimentary hind toe. Around the base of the bill to the eyes, 

 neck before and under parts of body, black ; upper white, nearly pure and unspotted on the forehead ; sides of the neck 

 and rump tinged with ashy, and having irregular transverse bars of brownish black on the back, scapulars, and wing coverts ; 

 the brownish black frequently predominating on those parts, and the rump also frequently with transverse bars of the same. 

 Lower part of the abdomen, tibia, and under tail coverts, white. Quills brownish black, lighter on their inner webs, with a 

 middle portion of their shafts white, and a narrow longitudinal stripe of white frequently on the shorter primaries and 

 secondaries. Tail white, with transverse imperfect narrow bands of black. Bill and legs black. The black color of the 

 under parts generally with a bronzed or coppery lustre, and presenting a scale-like appearance ; the brownish black of the upper 

 parts with a greenish lustre. Younger and winter plumage. Entire upper parts dark brown, with circular and irregular small 

 spots of white, and frequently of yellow, most numerous on the wing coverts ; upper tail covert white. Under parts white, 

 with short longitudinal lines and spots dark brownish cinereous on the neck and breast ; quills brownish black, with large 

 longitudinal spots of white on their inner webs, and also on the outer webs of the shorter primaries. Young. Upper parts 

 lighter, and with the white spots more irregular or scarcely assuming a circular shape ; narrow lines on the neck and breast 

 more numerous. Length, 11. 50 to 12.50 ; extent, 24. 25 to 25. 00; wing, 7. 25 to 9. 75 ; tail, 3 inches. Iris brown, bill 

 black ; feet lead color. 



Hob. All of North America. The sea-coasts of nearly all countries of the world. 



The black-bellied or Swiss plover I found moderately abundant in Minnesota, and also sparingly 

 on the sand spits and beaches along the Straits of Fuca, in Washington Territory. In the 

 latter vicinity I obtained several specimens in the early part of March, 1856. 



Owing to the general mildness of the winters in the last-mentioned locality, a few generally 

 remain throughout the season, where, in company with the turnstone and the active little three- 

 toed sandpiper, they may, any fine day during the colder months, be found industriously seeking 

 their favorite food at the edges of the retiring Avaves. In the spring and fall they are quite 

 common in the San Francisco markets. S. 



The Swiss plover seems to be a resident bird in small numbers, as I shot young birds in July 

 near the mouth of the Columbia river, together with the young of several other species of shore 

 birds. During the coldest winter weather I also observed them in greater numbers, but never 

 in flocks of more than a dozen. C. 



