FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. 



No. 2. American Golden Plover — Vulgo, Frost Bird — often 

 confounded with the Upland or Bartramian Sandpiper. — Chara- 

 drius Marmoratus. 



Golden Plover, Charadrius pluvialis, Wils. Amer. Orn. Charadrius pluvialis, 

 Bonap. Syn. Charadrius pluvialis, Golden Plover, Sw. & Rich. American 

 Golden Plover, Charadrius marmoratus, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



" Specific Character. — Bill rather slender ; along the gap one 

 inch and an eighth ; tarsi one and nine-sixteenths. Adult w^ith 

 the bill black, much slighter than C. helveticus ; forehead, and 

 a band over the eye, extending behind the eye, white ; upper 

 parts, including the crown, brownish-black, the feathers marked 

 with spots of golden-yellow and dull-white ; quills and coverts 

 dark grayish-brown ; secondaries paler — the inner margined 

 with yellowish-white ; tail feathers grayish-brown, barred with 

 paler ; the central with dull-yellow ; shafts of the wing quills 

 white toward the end, which, with their bases, are dark-brown ; 

 lower parts brownish -black, though in general we find it mot- 

 tled with brown, dull-white, and black ; lower tail coverts white, 

 the lateral marked with black; feet bluish-gray. Late in 

 autumn, the golden markings on the upper parts are not so 

 distinct, and the lower parts are grayish-blue. Length ten 

 inches and a half, wing seven and one-eighth. 



" This bird is closely allied to the Golden Plover — C. pluvialis 

 — of Europe. The latter is, however, superior in size, as well 

 as having the feathers on the sides of the body under the wings 

 — the axillars — white, whereas those feathers in our species are 

 gray, and in the European species which I have had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining, the golden tints appear more numerous, 

 and of a richer color. 



" The Amei'ican Golden Plover arrives on Long Island in 

 the latter part of April, and soon passes on to the northern 

 regions, where it is said to breed. In the early part of Septem- 

 ber, on its return from its natal abode, it frequents the Hemp- 

 stead Plains, Shinnecock Hills, and Montauk, where it feeds on 



