BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 97 



FAMILY CHARADRIID^E. PLOVERS. 



THE PLOVERS. 



About a dozen species and two or three varieties of this large and important family, 

 containing, it is said, nearly a hundred species of all parts of the world, are recorded 

 as occurring in North America. In the eastern United States six species are of regu- 

 lar occurrence. One the Killdeers breeds in Pennsylvania ; the others which 

 visit here, are found only as migrants in the spring and fall. Species which 

 occur in this state frequent mostly the gravelly and sandy shores of rivers, large 

 creeks and lakes, or the muddy banks of ponds ; some, however, are often observed 

 about plowed grounds, and in grass or stubble tields quite remote from water. 

 They feed largely on an animal diet, consisting chiefly of beetles, grasshoppers, 

 "worms," larvae, fresh-water shells, etc. ; and some, also, occasionally, eat small 

 seeds and berries. At times, other than when breeding, Plovers are gregarious, and 

 are often found, during migrations, in company with different species of the Shore 

 Birds. These birds are strong and swift flyers. They run with great rapidity and 

 when migrating some often fly at a considerable elevation. The Killdeers, and per- 

 haps all, migrate at night The spotted and pyriform eggs, usually four in number, 

 are placed in a rude nest, or, commonly, in a slight depression in the bare ground. 

 The eggs, like those of the Spotted Sandpiper, lay in the nests with the small or 

 pointed ends together. Plovers have rather heavy and plump bodies, large, rounded 

 heads, short, thick necks, and only three toes, except in squatarola, which has a 

 very small rudimentary hind toe. The legs and toes are rather short and stout ; the 

 toes have basal webs. The bill, somewhat like that of a pigeon's in shape, is short 

 and stout. The sexes are quite similar, but the changes with age and season are 

 very marked. 



GENUS CHARADRIUS LINNAEUS. 

 Charadrius squatarola (LiNN.). 



Black-bellied Plover ; Bull-head Plover ; Whistling Field Plover. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Very small, but distinct, hind toe. 



Adult, breeding dress. (Rarely seen in the U. S.) ; bill, legs, lores, chin, throat 

 and front of neck, breast, except sides, most of abdomen and axillars black; upper 

 parts spotted with blackish and whitish ; forehead, line over eye, sides of neck, 

 sides of breast, tibiae, posterior part of abdomen, under tail-coverts and some of upper 

 tail-coverts white. 



Adults and young, fall. Lower parts white, but axillars blackish; upper parts 

 blackish, with grayish spots ; legs dull bluish ; young have upper parts speckled 

 with pale golden-yellow. Specimens are often taken in the fall with single or large 

 patches of black feathers on lower parts. Length about 12 inches ; extent about 23 ; 

 bill about 1.10. 



Habitat. Nearly cosmopolitan, but chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere, breed- 

 ing far north, and migrating south in winter ; in America to the West Indies, Bra- 

 zil and New Grenada. 



Rather rare spring and fall migrant ; when found here is mostly seen 

 in the autumn, when it is oftener met with in the vicinity of Lake Erie 

 than elsewhere in the state. Generally seen singly, in pairs or small 

 parties, never, according- to my observation, in large flocks like the 

 Golden Plover. I have taken two specimens in Chester county ; Dr. 

 7 BIKDS. 



