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PR^ECOCIAL ORALLATORES — LIMICOL.E. 







adds that this bird only visits Henmida (hiriiifj its great southern niifjration, a few 

 being met with by tlie 1st ot Si'iitenibcr, (ir. rarely, a few days earlier. As a gen- 

 eral rule, it passes over Herniuda in large and nunierou* Hocks between the Kith and 

 irth of September. If tlie weather is favorable, the Hoeks i)ass on, at a considerable 

 elevation, in a soutiierly or so\itlieasterly direction, the form of the Hight being a 

 leading (duster, from wliich extend three long lines in single file. They nnist have 

 come over a distance of eigiit hundred miles, and have u still longer flight to accom- 

 plish before they can reacdi tm-n jinini. 



Occasionally hurricanes originate in tlie West Indies, rage with great violence, 

 and pjuss to the westward of JJermuda. It is impossible for the I'lovers to proceed 

 if they meet one of these territi(^ storms of wind and rain, and they take refuge in 

 the Hernnulas. It is very remarkable that they are always extremely fat, and they 

 are in consequence nuich .scmght l>y the hunters. A few flocks — later arrivals — are 

 met with up to the middle of October. Mr. Ilurdis was informed by a friend long 

 resident in Antigua that in September this island is ainuially visited by countless 

 flocks of this bird. ( )n one occasion, when the weather was stormy, this Plover made 

 its appearance in such multitudes that in St. John's the inhabitants in all directions 

 shot them from their doors and windows, even the boys killing them with sticks and 

 stones. Similar occurrences are narrated as having taken place in Martinique and 

 Barbadoes. 



This bird is said to display great tivity when on the ground, and it often runs 

 with considerable rapidity before taking wing. It is not so timid as the Klack-bellied 

 Plover, and is easily decoyed by imitating its peculiarly mellow note, and is often 

 observed, if thus enticed when passing in a certain direction, to check its course, 

 turn round, and present itself as an easy mark. The stay of this species is short, 

 and as the season advances it passes southward, always moving in flocks and in a 

 very regular manner. 



In their wintry wanderings they alternately visit the West Indies, Central and 

 South America, to Paraguay and Chili. Salvin noted their appearance in the open 

 pasture-lands about Duenas, Guatemala, in the second week of April, where they 

 were always seen in company with flocks of Kartram's Tattler. This bird appears to 

 be of accidental occurrence in Florida, where Mr. Moore saw but two individuals, one 

 in the spring. Professor Alfred Xewton refers to their autumnal migrations through 

 St. Croix, where they often appear in large numbers. There they are usually seen 

 after a gale from the south or southwest. From this he infers that they are arrested 

 in their southern migration by the wind, and compelled to defer journeying farther 

 until the weather has changed. To this Mr. Edward Xewton adds, that their arrival 

 is hailed with delight by the sportsmen, every one possessing a gun hastening to the 

 pastures on the south side of the island, and there awaiting the long line of these 

 birds as they fly up from the sea without exhibiting the least shyness. They were 

 first noticed by the Newtons, August 31, and as all the birds seen had more or less 

 traces of the black breast of the breeding-])lumage, it was supposed that the young 

 birds must have taken a different line from their parents in their migration. In 

 Trinidad, according to Lootaud, this species is a regular migratory visitant, arriving 

 about the end of August and moving south in ( )ctober, and is always found in flocks 

 of consideraVjIe size, frequenting the sea-side, but being even more fond of the interior 

 meadows, and especially of those freshly turned up, where it finds a great abundance 

 of the worms on which it feeds. It is the most regular of the birds of passage, 

 arrives in varyi' ' numbers, and is sought after by the local epicures ; although 

 L^otaud adds that this supposed excellence of its flesh is more imaginary than real. 



