CHAPTER XYIII. 



BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. CHARADRIUS APRICARIOUS. 



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

 And clust'ring close, their wheeling courses keep." 



THEIR HABITS, ETC. 



This Bird is well known to most of our Sportsmen, and is 

 eagerly sought after wherever he makes his appearance. Plo- 

 vers return from the South early in May, and remain but a 

 short time upon the sea-coast; they then retire to the high up- 

 land districts to breed and rear their young, and during this 

 season they feed upon berries, grasshoppers, and various in- 

 sects, 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 

 become sedgy from the change of food. The plumage of the 

 young Bird is quite dissimilar to that of the adult Bird, even 

 so much so that they are frequently considered a distinct spe- 

 cies, and are then known as the "Bull or Beetle-Headed Plover." 



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