294 



VETITEBRATA, 



^;^t£- 





TIIR TORXSTONE. 



THE EUKOPEiVX OYSTLU CATCUER. 



5. intenirc.t, is nine inches long; black, red, gray, and white above; breast black; beneath white. 



Tt is a handsome bird, and dis- 

 tribnted over nearly all parts of 

 the world. It visits Southern 

 Europe in August, and retires 

 to the north in May. In our 

 Middle States it arrives from 

 the south iu April and proceeds 

 north in May. It returns in 

 September, and soon proceeds 

 south ; a few winter in the 

 Southern States. "With our 

 coast gunners it is known by 

 the names of ^mn^i>/?-c/,^ca?7- 

 Bird, Beach-Bird, and Horse- 

 foot Snipe, the latter given to 

 it because it feeds on the eggs 

 of the horsefoot, Limuhis poly- 

 phemus. The Black Turn- 

 stone, S. melanocejyhalus, is 

 found in Western North Amer- 

 ica. 



THE TRUE PLOVERS. 



Genus CHARADRIUS: 



Charadrius. — This includes the 

 Golden Plover of Europe, C. 

 2}IiH'iaIis, which, like the rest of 

 the family, is a bird of powerful 

 fiight,and is consequently widely 

 distributed. It is eleven inches 

 long; o-reenish-black above, the 

 feathers tinged with golden yel- 

 low ; the under surface black ; 

 subject, however, to very dis- 

 tinct changes of plumage. They 

 breed at tlie North of Europe, and proceed in large flocks to the South in autumn. Many of 



THE GOLDEX PLOVER. 



