CHAPTER XVIII. 



BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. CHARADRIUS APRICARIUS. 



" O'er the flat marsh we mark the plovers sweep, 

 And, clustering close, their wheeling courses keep." 



THEIR HABITS, ETC. 



LACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, being well 

 known to most of our sportsmen, are 

 eagerly sought after wherever they make 

 their appearance. These birds return 

 from the South early in May, and re- 

 main but a short period upon the sea- 

 coast ; they then retire to the high upland 

 districts to breed and rear their young, 



and during this season feed upon berries, grasshoppers, and 

 various insects, and become very fat and good-flavored. At this 

 time more particularly they are known as the old field-plover, or 

 whistling plover. Towards August or September, in company 

 with the young birds, they resort to the sea-shore, and soon be- 



248 



