Measurements Total length, 6% inches; wing, 4%, 

 and bill, % inch. 



WILSON'S PLOVER 

 (AEgialitis wilsonia) 



While the Wilson plover is found to some extent on 

 the southern Atlantic Coast, it may properly be said to 

 be a Pacific species. Here it is seen on the beaches 

 in large numbers, just beyond the reach of the surf, 

 picking the insects and minute shellfish as they are 

 washed on the sand, or flying in flocks just above the 

 breakers. 



Coloi Forehead and stripe over the eye, white; black 

 stripe in front of crown; top of head and stripe from 

 the eye to the bill, black; black band just below the 

 throat; back, gray; under parts, white; bill black, and 

 legs and feet, light pink. 



Nest and Eggs The nest is a mere depression in 

 the ground, with three to four eggs of a pale olive, 

 spotted with dark brown. 



Measurements Total length, 7 to 8 inches; wing, 4 

 to 5; bill, about % of an inch. Three toes with a small 



There are a number of other plovers on the hunt- 

 ing grounds of the Pacific Coast, but they are either 

 too small or the flesh too poor to interest the sports- 

 man. Of these the killdeer plover is the most com- 

 mon and the best known. A description of these w r ould 

 be of no interest to the sportsman and therefore add 

 nothing to the purposes of this work. 



THE AVOSET 

 (Recurvirostra americana) 



The family Recurvirostridae has but two representa- 

 tives on the Coast. The American avocet breeds from 

 Washington southward and spends its winters from 

 central California south. They are quite plentiful in 

 southern California during the winter months, increas- 

 ing in numbers in Lower California and Mexico. Its 

 webbed feet and long upward turned bill are features 

 by which it may always be known. It is generally 

 found in flocks and frequents both fresh and salt- 

 waters, 



Color Head and neck, ashy gray; back and under 

 parts, white; the primaries and upper half of the sec- 

 ondaries, black, making the wing about half black; 



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