THE GRASS PLOVER. 119 



white ; greater coverts, dusky, edged with pale 

 ferruginous, and spotted with black; lesser co- 

 verts, pale ferruginous, each feather broadlj 

 bordered with white, within which is a concen- 

 tric semi-circle of black ; rump and tail coverts, 

 deep brown black, slightly bordered with white; 

 tail, tapering, of a pale brown orange color, beau- 

 tifully spotted with black, the middle feathers 

 centred with dusky ; legs, yellow, tinged with 

 green, the outer toe joined to the middle by a 

 membrane; lining of the wings, elegantly barred 

 with black and white ; iris of the eye, dark or 

 blue-back, very large. The male and female 

 are nearly alike. Weight upwards of three- 

 quarters of a pound." 



This plump and finely marked bird appears 

 in the fields of Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 

 vania, about the middle of April, and sometimes 

 earlier. They are then in good order, not at all 

 shy at first, but after having been shot at, be- 

 come extremely vigilant and difficult to ap- 

 proach. For several weeks they frequent the 

 grass fields in companies of never more than 

 three or four, and early in May separate into 

 pairs. We have flushed the hen from her eggs, 

 deposited in a grass field, without any appear- 

 ance of a nest, on the tenth of May. In the 



