dhore Birds 



Plovers 



( 'Family Cbaradriidcz) 



Resembling the snipe in structure, plovers may be distin- 

 guished by their moderate or small size, averaging that of the 

 thrush, by their short bills (not longer and generally shorter than 

 the head), which are shaped somewhat like a pigeon's; by their 

 three toes not an infallible guide, however, since our black- 

 breasted species and two others have four toes; in having 

 rounded scales on the tarsi; by their plump bodies, short, thick 

 necks, long wings, reaching to the tip of the tail or beyond, and, 

 in some instances, by spurs on the wings. In habits, too, there 

 is a similarity to the preceding group; but the plovers pick their 

 food, which is largely of an animal nature, from the surface of 

 the ground, instead of probing for it, as their shorter bills indi- 

 cate. They also more frequently visit dry fields and uplands. 

 Rapid runners and fliers, mellow whistlers, gregarious, except 

 at the nesting season, and not shy, plovers are among the best 

 known of our common birds. 



Black-breasted Plover or Beetle-head 



Golden Plover 



Kildeer 



Semipalmated or Ring-necked Plover 



Piping Plover 



Belted Piping Plover 



Wilson's Plover 



Surf Birds and Turnstones 



(Family Aphri^idce) 



One member only of this maritime family of four species 

 visits the outer bars and beaches of our sea coast, to turn over 

 shells and pebbles looking for the small animal life it preys upon. 

 Its head and bill resemble a plover's; its wings are long and 

 sharply pointed for sea roaming. 



Turnstone or Calico-back 



194 



