30 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



From the condition of the abdomen and ovaries of one speci- 

 men, and the presence of several recently fledged young, I came 

 to the conclusion that they had nested in the vicinity. It is 

 barely possible however, that these birds were unusually early 

 arrivals from more northern breeding grounds, although the 

 arrivals from the north generally begin about the last of the 

 month. My suspicions that the species either breed in this state, 

 or at no far distant point, were strengthened the following sea- 

 son when several females examined the last of May contained 

 eggs which would have been deposited within a short time." 

 (NELSON.) 



JEgialitis meloda circumcincta Ridgw. 



BELTED PIPING PLOVER 



Popular synonyms. Ringed Piping Plover; White Ring-neck. 

 JEgialitis melodus var. circumcinctus RIDGW. Am. Nat viii, 1874, 109. 

 jEgialitis meloda var. circumcincta COUES. Check List, 1874. App. p. 133, No. 400a; 



Birds N.W. 1874,465. 

 JEgialitis melodus circumcinctus RIDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 520a. COUES, 



Check List, 2d ed. 1882, No. 588. 



jEgialitis meloda, b. var. circumcincta B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. i.1884,160. 

 jEgialitis meloda circumcincta A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No. 277 a. RIDGW. Man. N. 



Am. B. 1887, 178. 



HAB. Chiefly the Missouri River region, but also contiguous parts of the interior of 

 North America. 



"Sp. CHAB. About the size of J5. semipalmata; bill short, strong. Adult male: Fore- 

 head, ring around the back of the neck, and entire under parts, white ; a band of black in 

 front above the band of white ; band encircling the neck before and behind, black, imme- 

 diately below the ring of white on the neck behind. Head above and upper parts of body 

 light brownish cinereous ; rump and upper tail-coverts lighter, and often nearly white : 

 quills dark brown, with a large portion of their inner webs and shafts white; shorter pri- 

 maries with a large portion of their outer webs white ; tail at base white, and with the outer 

 feathers white; middle feathers with a wide subterminal band of brownish black, and 

 tipped with white. Bill orange at base, tipped with black; legs orange-yellow. Female' 

 Similar to the male, but with the dark colors lighter and less in extent. Young: No black 

 band in front; collar around the neck ashy brown. 



"Total length, about 7 inches; wing, 4.50; tail, 2 inches." (Water B. N. Am.) 



"Very common summer resident along the lake shore, breed- 

 ing on the flat, pebbly beach between the sand dunes and shore. 

 Arrives the middle of April and proceeds at once to breeding. 



"From a specimen shot the 24th of April, 1876, at Wauke- 

 gan, I obtained a perfect egg, and the abdomen of several 

 females obtained the same day exhibited unmistakable signs 

 that they were already breeding, as did, also, the actions of 

 the birds. Some thirty pairs were breeding along the beach at 



