WJLSOX'S PLOVER. 361 



had boon suffering Jill tin- .lisnunfnrts attendant upon such ;i rough passage; (lion, too, I 

 hud just loll a frozen, snow-eovered land, over which the chilly north winds won- s\\v, -p- 

 in-: now I was -roofed by soft airs from the balmy South, the merry chirp of insects ran- 

 in my ears, while the full moon, newly risen, illumined a scene which I then looked upon 

 for the first time. I wandered oil' a. TOSS the town and as I was passin- a strip of low land, 

 1 was almost startled by hearing loud screams, and nt the same moment, two or three birds 

 started up, almost at my feet and, continuing their cries, circled around my head. I could 

 make out their form quite clearly in the brilliant ino.mlight and, although it was the first 

 time that I had over seen them living, I recognized the Kildeer 1'lover. The ease wilh 

 which they Hew at night somewhat surprised me, but I afterward found lhat they are part- 

 ly nocturnal and I have many times since then, been awakened in the darkness by their 

 shrill notes. 



The Killdcer Plovers are very common in the Carolinas during winter, not only fre- 

 quenting the shores but also haunting moist places in the interior, and I have often seen 

 them in the streets of the villages, where they are very unsuspicious. Southward their 

 numbers increase and on the marshes of the St. John's River, I found them in imm'Mise 

 flocks. They are noisy birds when ou the wing but while running on the ground, or a 

 plaintive cry. As they are not at all shy where they are not much hunted, they n. e 

 approached quite closely, when they will merely run away, but if pursued, they will < i 

 squat, lying quite flat, in order to conceal themselves; then, if approached very clo 

 they will rise suddenly, with load, shrill screams which they ivitorate until they ali; it. 

 Thus they often prove a nuisance when one is trying to obtain a shot at some shyer bird, 

 as the noise made by these restless Plovers, causes all other birds in the immediate vicini- 

 ty to take wing. 



I found the Kildeors common on the Keys in winter but do not think any remain to 

 breed, but they do nest on Indian River, depositing their eggs late in May, and in Penn- 

 sylvania, they lay about the same time. As might be judged by the foregoing account, 

 they are quite solicitous when their nests are approached and their ouf-eries often inform 

 the collector that the eggs are near. These birds were very common throughout NVw Kn,-- 

 land some years ago and although I have occasionally met with a straggle- ;U >ey are quite 

 rare here now, and but few remain to breed. 



JEGIALITIS WILSONIUS. 



Wilson's Plover. 



JEyialitii Wilsonius B.uuu, Birds. N. A. 1858, 693. 

 DESCRIPTION, 



SP. Cn. Form, snbust. Size, not large. Tertinries not nearly reaching tips of wings. Tail, short and rounded. 

 Sternum, stout, tin- outer marginal indentations, but slightly deeper tlmn inner. Tongue, long, tliin and horny, narrow- 

 ing toward tip which is slightly rounded. 



COLOR. Adult male. Al>ove, pale ashy-brown, becoming darker on tip of tail, the outer feather^ nf!ii<-li air white. 

 Wings, dark-I)n,\vn, with line on inner wel>, central strij.es on prim f-eeondaries, and bin 



white. Forehead and line over eye, white, aWe and below which is one of black Under parts, white, with a Imxid band 

 of Mack iiorovs lircast. 



Adult f'-male. Quite similar to the above but the black markings of head and neck are replaced by some of brown. The 

 winter male resembles the female. 



46 



