172 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



FAMILY CHARADRIID^E. THE PLOVERS. (Page 143.) 



Genera. 



{Nest on ground in meadow or near water, the nest itself often a mere depres- 

 sion in ground. Eggs 2-4, more or less pyriform-ovate, light olive or buffy, more 

 or less spotted or speckled with brown or blackish.) 



a 1 . Wing more than 8.00 ; plumage of upper parts partly metallic ; head crested. 



Vanellus. (Page 172.) 

 a*. Wing less than 8.00 ; plumage without metallic tints ; head not crested. 



b l . Plumage of upper parts much speckled or spotted; lower parts uniform 



black medially in summer dress Charadrius. (Page 172.) 



b 2 . Plumage of upper parts plain ; lower parts always white medially. 



/Egialitis. (Page 174.) 



GENUS VANELLUS BRISSON. (Page 172, pi. LY., fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Summer adult : Fore-part and top of head, chin, throat, and breast, uniform 

 blue-black; side of head and neck white, becoming grayish on hind-neck ; upper 

 parts chiefly metallic bottle-green, bluish and coppery purple, the first predomi- 

 nating ; upper tail-coverts rufous ; basal half and tip of tail white, the rest dull black ; 

 belly, etc., white, becoming pale rufous on lower tail-coverts. Winter plumage : Simi- 

 lar to summer plumage, but anterior part of lores, together with chin and throat, 

 white, the white of side of neck, etc., tinged with buff. Downy young : Top and sides 

 of head and entire upper parts dull light brownish gray, mottled with black, the 

 shoulders tinged with light rusty and the rump with large spots of deep black ; 

 hind-neck, chin, throat, and entire lower parts except chest, white, the first tinged 

 with light ashy; chest dusky grayish. Length about 13.00, wing 8.50-9.00, culmen 

 1.00, tarsus 2.00, middle toe 1.00-1.10. Eggs 1.85 X 1-33, varying from dull light 

 grayish buff to deep olive-buff, spotted with brownish black. Hob. Northern por- 

 tions of eastern hemisphere; occasional in Greenland; accidental in Alaska and on 

 Long Island? 269. V. vanellus (LINN.). Lapwing. 



GENUS CHARADRIUS LINN.EUS. (Page 172, pi. LIV., figs. 1, 2.) 



Species. 



COMMON CHARACTERS. Summer adults with most of lower parts and sides of 

 head (up to and including lores and ear-coverts) uniform black ; forehead, sides of 

 crown, and sides of neck and chest, adjoining the black, plain white ; upper parts 

 speckled or spotted with blackish and whitish or yellowish. Winter adults without 

 any black on lower parts, which are whitish, the chest, sides of neck and head, etc., 

 streaked with brownish gray; the upper parts spotted with grayish and dusky 

 (sometimes mixed with yellowish). Young similar to winter adult, but above 

 speckled with yellowish. 



