BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



93 



stripes of white and black ; tip and top of bill blackish, rest yellowish ; legs yel- 

 low ; eyes brown ; length about 12^ inches ; extent about 23. 



Habitat. Eastern North America, north to Nova Scotia and Alaska, breeding 

 throughout its North American range ; migrating in winter southward as far even 

 as southern South America. Occasional in Europe. 



This bird, known to sportsmen as the Field or Grass Plover, is' 

 a common migrant and summer resident in Pennsylvania from about 

 the 20th of April until September. This species resides during the 

 breeding- season in grass fields and highlands. In this particular it 

 differs from others of its family. Often in the summer these birds alight 

 on fences along the roadside, in trees, etc., and raise their long wings to 

 their full extent. When breeding these birds are found singly or in 

 pairs, and they are then quite unsuspicious, often allowing a very near 

 approach before they take to wing or run off and hide in the grass, but 

 in the late summer when assembled in flocks they become exceedingly 

 shy and difficult of approach. Many gunners who shoot every season, in 

 August, large numbers of these delicious game birds, generally go on 

 horseback or in wagons in order to get within easy range of their fleet- 

 footed, swift-winged and wary game. Nests on the ground, the spotted 

 eggs, three to four, measure a little over 1^ inches long by a trifle more 

 than H inches broad. Its ordinary note is a rather loud yet soft and pleas- 

 ing whistle, but when breeding it frequently utters a loud, prolonged and 

 tremulous piercing scream, which, when heard at considerable distance, 

 sounds very much like the sudden cry of a child in great distress. Late 

 in July and in August, or when the young are amply able to provide for 

 themselves, the plovers collect in flocks of six, eight a dozen, or twenty, 

 and sometimes many more, and frequent grass fields and meadows, 

 particularly Avhere grasshoppers, which are one of their favorite articles 

 of food, are abundant. 



By the last of September but few of the species are found in the in- 

 terior, as they appear to soon leave the breeding grounds and migrate 

 towards the seacoast and large tide rivers. 



In addition to feeding on different forms of insect-life, especially beetles 

 and grasshoppers, the plover often eats various kinds of berries and seeds. 

 Fourteen of these birds, which I have examined, were found to have fed 

 on the following-named insects, etc. : 



Young birds. 



