Wilson's Plover 



By Henry Thurston 



HE permanent impression left upon one's mind by the different 

 species of birds seen on a trip to a distant point where the life 

 met with is strange to the observer, demands a good deal upon 

 the circumstances under which the new avian friends are en- 

 countered. Many of these meetings, however striking at the time, do not 

 seem to take a firm hold, and though not forgotten entirely, finally give 

 place in one's thoughts to the memory of some bird that at first meeting did 

 not appear very imposing, but which found a warm spot by daily associa- 

 tion, and secured the central place in one's stories when he settles down to 

 review his many experiences. 



In Florida, on my first trip to that bird wonder-land, I was fortunate 

 enough to meet most of the native species that have been recorded as 

 " nearly extinct." I well remember the thrill of pleasure with which I 

 viewed, when suddenly rounding a clump of mangroves on the bank of a 

 creek, a flock of Snowy Herons that were feeding in the slime and muck. 

 The first I had seen ! Also, the great joy with which I beheld two Roseate 

 Spoonbills slowly circling over a distant marsh ; and the awe felt upon sur- 

 prising a flock of five thousand or more White Ibis that took wing with a 

 noise like distant thunder as their dazzling black-tipped pinions clapped 

 furiously over their backs. But marvelous as were these visions, there, too, 

 I met for the first time a friendly little bird that had not the splendor of 

 those named, but whose cheery whistle of welcome I think I miss more — 

 the Bull-head or Wilson's Plover. Since then I have visited many beaches 

 on the west coast of Florida in the spring and have usually been greeted by 

 this bird as soon as I stepped on the sand. Blithely he comes along, with 

 body held stiffly and slender legs twinkling so swiftly that it is nearly im- 

 possible to make them out. 



Three months on the beach at Tampa Bay during the breeding season 

 gave me a good opportunity to become fairly well acquainted with this 

 Plover. The arrangement in the male of the black forehead band and one 

 of the same color on the chest makes him quite a striking bird when viewed 

 under certain lights, and in others exceedingly inconspicuous. Though not 

 a protective colorationist to the extent of trying to fit the theory to any- 

 thing and everything, I have been honored by having the laws expounded 

 to me by the originator and have seen some striking examples where they 

 work beautifully — (also some where they don't) — but the most convincing 



