24 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



tail-coverts white. Under parts white, with short longitudinal lines and spots of dark 

 brownish cinereous on the neck and breast; quills brownish black, with a large longitudi- 

 nal space of white on their inner webs and also on the outer webs of the shorter pri - 

 maries. 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. 



Total length about 11. 50 inches; wing, 7.50; tail, 3.00: culmen, about 1.10; tarsus, 1.95; 

 middle toe, 1.15. 



In general coloration this species resembles very closely the 

 Golden Plover (Charadrius dominicus), but, besides being much 

 larger and stouter built, may always be distinguished by the 

 blackish axillars, these feathers being smoky gray in the Golden 

 Plover. 



This species, the largest of our Plovers, is more or less com- 

 mon during the migrations. In Cook county, according to Mr. 

 Nelson, it "arrives in full breeding plumage the last of May and 

 after lingering a few days the majority pass north. A few re- 

 main during the summer and undoubtedly breed. Eeturning 

 early in September in fall plumage, they remain until well into 

 October. While with us in the migrations this species is gen- 

 erally solitary, sometimes a half dozen individuals joining com- 

 pany, or a single specimen will be found leading a miscellaneous 

 company of sandpipes and small plovers." 



SUBGENUS Charadrius LINN.EUS. 



Charadrlus LINN. S. N. ed. 10, 1758, 150; ed. 12, 1766, 253. Type, G. apricarius LINN. 



CHAE. Similar to Squataro la, but without any trace of hind toe. Plumage also very 

 similar, but form rather more slender. 



Only two species of Charadrlus proper are known; one peculiar to the Palfearctic 

 Region, but occurring accidentally in Greenland; the other spread over the remaining 

 portions of the world, including the greater part of America, the islands throughout the 

 Pacific, and the coasts of Asia. They differ chiefly in the color, of the axillary feathers and 

 the lining of the wings, which are white in O. apricarius, smoky gray in C. dominicus. 



Charadrius dominicus (Mull.) 



AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER 



Popular synonyms. Green Plover; Squeeler (Plymouth Bay, Mass.). 

 Charadrius dominicus MULLEB. Syst. Nat. Suppl. 1776, 116. RIDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881 



No. 515; Man. N. Am. B., 1887, 174. COUES, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, No. 581. B B. & 



R. Water B. N. Am. i, 1884, 139. A. O. U., Check List, 1886, No. 272. 

 Charadrius pluvialis WILSON, Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 71, pi. 50, fig. 6. (nee LINN.) SWAINS. 



& RICH. P. B.-A. ii, 1831, 369. NUTT. Man. ii, 1834, 16. AUD. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 623. 

 Charadrius virginicus "BOECKHAUSEN and BECHSTEIN," LIGHT. Verz. Doubl. 1823, No. 



729. CASS. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858. 690. BAIED, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 503. 



