BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. 249 



come sedgy from the change of food. The plumage of the young 

 bird is quite dissimilar to that of the adult bird, in fact so much so 

 that they are frequently considered a distinct species, and are then 

 known as the "bull or beetle-headed plover." Plovers generally 

 fly high, and keep up an incessant whistling, which being repeated 

 be the sportsman, the birds are easily decoyed within gunshot. 

 They are very shy when feeding, and extreme care is requisite to 

 approach them. When on the sea-shore, they may be shot by the 

 same artifices resorted to for the killing of curlews or other sea- 

 birds. When on the open plains, where they are still more difficult 

 to be got at, the use of a stalking-horse is an excellent plan by 

 which to circumvent them, and is recommended as a highly suc- 

 cessful mode of killing them. 



A most capital manoeuvre, and one adopted by some of our 

 sporting friends in the country, is to approach them in a careless 

 manner, either in an old wagon or cart, or on horseback, as they 

 seldom take alarm at a horse or a vehicle of any description. 



Plovers require a very hard rap to bring them down. This 

 variety is known in England. 



As soon as the cold weather sets in, these birds move off to the 

 South. 



DESCRIPTION. 



"This species is twelve inches long and twenty-four inches in 

 extent ; the bill is thick, deeply grooved on the upper mandible, 

 an inch and a quarter in length, and of a black color ; the head 

 and globe of the eye are both remarkably large, the latter deep 

 bluish-black ; forehead white ; crown and hind-head black, spotted 

 with golden yellow; back and scapulars dusky, sprinkled with the 

 same golden or orange-colored spots, mixed with others of white ; 

 breast, belly, and vent, black ; sides of the breast whitish ; wing- 

 quills black ; middle of the shafts white ; greater coverts black, 

 tipped with white ; lining of the wing black ; tail regularly barred 

 with blackish and pure white ; tail-coverts pure white ; legs and 

 feet a dusky lead-color; the exterior-toe joined to the middle by a 

 broad membrane ; hind toe very small. 



