CHARADRIID^ — THE PLOVERS — CHARADRIUS. 



139 



Sp. Char. Lining of the wiii),' ami axiliiirs always pure white ; tiblic naked for only about 

 half the luii;,'th of the tarsus, or less. Adult in suiniiier : Ahove dusky lilack, everywhere spotted 

 with bright ochre-yellow, the wings with both the ground-color and the markings paler ; primaries, 

 priiuary-coverts, and alulu;, plain brownish-slate, with a narrow terminal margin of white ; about 

 tiie terminal half of the shafts of the (juills also wliii"; tail grayish slate, with rather naiTow 

 obliijue bars of white, these tinged with yellow on the middle feathers. Entire side of head, up 

 to the u|)per edge of the lores and auriculars, chin, and foreneck uniform dull black or dusky ; this 

 extending downward over the middle of the juguliim, grailually narrowing, until l)elow it forms a 

 stripe only a little more than half an incii wide, but, suddenly expanding, covers the entire lower 

 breast, abdomen, and anal region. Forehead and superciliary stripe white, thi.s continued down- 

 ward along the edge of the black, gradually widening below, until, where the black becomes nar- 

 rowest, the white measures nearly one inch in wiilth. Sides of the breast (|)osterior to and above 

 the white) spotted and barred black and ochre-yellow ; crissum mostly white. Bill black ; iris 

 dark brown ; legs and feet bluish gray (MAC(iii,LiVHAv). J F inter plumage : Upper parts as in sum- 

 mer, but the yellow markings more golden ; black of lower parts, throat, etc., replaced by light 

 grayish, .spotted and streaked with darker, the throat and abdomen immaculate white. Young: 

 Above .spotted dusky and ochre-yellow, much as in the adult ; lower parts as in the winter adult, 

 but jugulum and sides of breast strongly sulfused with light ochre-yellow. Doiouj young . " Bright 

 golden, varied with black on the head and back, the hind part of the neck bright yellow ; a spot 

 under the eye, and under surface of the body pure white" (Dresser). 



Total length about 10.50 ; extent, 22.00. Wing, about 7.00 ; culmen, .90 ; tarsus, 1.60-1.60 ; 

 middle toe, 1.00. 



Except in the pure white axillars and under wing-coverts, there is little in the coloration of 

 this species to distinguish it from the American C. dominicus and its Asiatic representative, G. 

 fulvus. It is more golden above, however, though some specimens of C. fulviis are as much marked 

 with this color. 



Charadrins dominicus. 



THE AMERICAN QOLDEN PLOVER. 



Charadriiia dominicus, MiJLLEit, Syst. Nat. Suppl. 1776, 116. — Cass. Pr. Ac. Nat. Sei. Philad. 



1864, 241. — RiOGW. Noni. X. Am. B. 1881, no. 515. — Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, 



no. 581. 

 Charadrins pluvialis, Wilson, Am. Orn. VII. 1813, 71, pi. 50, fig. 5 (nee Lixx.). — Swaixs. & 



Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 369. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 16. — Aud. Orn. Biog, III. 1835, 623. 

 Chamdrius virginicn.i, " Bouckhausen and Bechstein," Licht. Verz. Doubl. 1823, no. 729. — 



Cassix, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 690. — Baiud, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 503. 

 Charadrins fulvus, var. virginicus, Coues, Key, 1872, 243; Check List, 1874, no. 390, Birds N. W. 



1874, 449 (.synonymy). 

 Charadrins viarmorafns, Waol. Sj'st. Av. 1827, no. 42. — Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 575, pl. 800 ; 



Syuop. 1839, 222 ; Birds Am. V. 1842, 203, pl. 316. 

 Charadrins fiilvus aitwricanus, Suhleo. Mus. P.-B. Cursorcs, 1865, 53. 



Hab. America in general, from the Arctic coast (including Greenland) to Paraguay and Chili ; 

 breeding in the Arctic and Subarctic districts, winter migrant to southern localities. 



Sp. Char. Bill rather short, legs moderate, wings long, no hind toe, tarsus covered before and 

 behind with small circular or hexagonal scales. Summer plumage: Upper parts brownish black, 

 with numerous small circular and irregular spots of golden yellow, most numerous on the back 

 and rump, and on the upper tail-coverts, assuming the form of transverse bands generally ; also 

 with some spots of ashy white. Entire imder jiarts black, with a brownish or bronzed lustre, 

 under tail-coverts mixed or barred with white. Forehead, border of the black of the neck, under 

 tail-coverts, and tibiae, white ; axillary feathers cinereous; quills dark brown ; middle portion of 

 the shafts white, frequently extending slightly to the webs and forming longitudinal stripes on the 

 shorter quills ; tail dark brown, with numerous irregular bands of ashy white, and frequently 

 tinged with golden yellow ; bill black ; legs dark bluish brown. Winter plumage {young and 



