354 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



PIPING PLOVER {^gialitis meloda). 

 Common or local names : Clam-bird; Mourning-bird; Beach-plover; Ring-neck, 



Length. — 6.50 to 7 inches; bill .45 to .48. 



Adult Male. — Forehead, chin, throat and ring around neck white; band 

 across forward part of crown, between eyes, black; a partial black 

 collar on lower neck, almost always broken both front and back, in 

 rare cases complete; upper parts mainly pale ash; tip of tail black; 

 below white; base of bill orange, tip black; legs and feet orange yellow. 



Adult Female. — Similar, but the black tending to brownish, and less distinct. 



Young. — Resembles female, but no trace of dark color on head and little, 

 if any, on sides of neck; feathers of upper parts with pale or rusty 

 edgings; bill mainly black. 



Field Marks. — This is the only pale Ring-neck on the beach. In flight 

 the wings show much marked dark brown and white. 



Notes. — A plaintive piping whistle, repeated. Queep, queep, queep-o 

 (Langille). 



Nest. — A hollow in the sand or shingle of the beach. 



Eggs. — 1.20 to 1.30 by .95 to 1, clay color or creamy white, sparsely marked 

 with chocolate specks. 



Season. — Uncommon migrant; uncommon and very local summer resident 

 along coast; formerly common. Early April to mid September. 



Range. — Eastern North America. Breeds locally from southern Saskatch- 

 ewan, southern Ontario, Magdalen Islands and Nova Scotia south to 

 central Nebraska, northwestern Indiana, Lake Erie, New Jersey (for- 

 merly) and Virginia; winters on coast of United States from Texas 

 to Georgia, and in northern Mexico; casual in migration to Newfound- 

 land, Bahamas, Greater Antilles and Bermuda. 



History. 



This lovely little bird is a resident of the sandy shores of 

 the sea. It formerly was abundant, and bred in colonies on 

 all the sandy outer beaches from Nova Scotia to Virginia. 



