56 . A ME RICA N ORNITHOL OGY. 



BLACK^-BELLIED PLOVER, 



A. O. U. No. 370. (Charadrius squatarola.) 



RANGE. 



This Plover breeds in the extreme northern portions of North Amer- 

 ica. It migrates in winter south of the United States. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 11.5 in.; extent, 24 in.; tail, 3 in. Eye, brown. Bill and 

 feet, black. Has four toes, the hind one being very small, but serving 

 to distinguish it from the similar Golden Plover, which has but three 

 toes. Adult in summer: — Chin, throat, breast, under parts and sides of 

 the head, black. Top of the head and sides of the neck, white, the 

 feathers on the hind part of the crown being centered with black. Back, 

 wings and tail, black, the feathers of the back being edged with white 

 and the secondaries, coverts and tail feathers barred with the same. 

 Under tail coverts, white. Auxiliary feathers (those under the wing 

 and nearest the body), black. These feathers also serve to distinguish 

 these birds in the winter plumage from the Golden Plover, these same 

 feathers on the latter bird being white. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



The Black-bellied Plover nests in the extreme northern parts of N.A. 

 The nest is simply a depression in the ground, and is lined with a few 

 grasses. The three or four eggs are laid during the latter part of June 

 or early in July. The ground color varies from a light to a deep olive 

 buff, thickly spotted and blotched with umber and black of varying pat- 

 terns. 



HABITS. 



The Black-bellied Plover is decidedly more a bird of the sea shore and 

 mud-fiats than one of the interior, and with the exception of along the 

 Mississippi valley, the greater part of them during migrations follow 

 along down the coast lines. When in their spring dress, few of the 



