CIIAHADHIID.E — TIIK PLOVKHS - I'ODASOCYS. 



171 



ill some exiunplt's, aiitl to a liiowiiisli in otlicrs. Tlu'V art' tliiiily iiiaikt'il all ovtT 

 with brown, ho dark as to Ik- almost IdacU, these markings lieiiif,' in irreKulur, 8har|ily 

 ijehneil spots, small splashes, ami line dots. In some speeimens the marking's run 

 into tine lines, and in these are the smallest, dark«>st, most numerous, and most 

 sharply (h-tined. The markings are usually lar;,'er and more thickly set on the lar>,'er 

 part of the e^'j,'. Here and there a tew pale obsolete spots are noticed. 



Audidnin, who probalily observed this species in a more northern loiality. f,'ivefl 

 the 1st of .June as the date of the tirst deposition of itse^,'],'; and this more nearly 

 corresiMnids with my own experience. Visiting Cape Charles, .lune I, iH'i'J, I met 

 with several nests of this bird, in all id' which the e;,'f,'s were (piite fresh. 



Audidion describes the tlij,dit as rajiid, elc(,'ant. and protracted. When tlyinj,' from 

 one sand-beai'h or islaml to another, they pass low over the hind or water, and as they 

 move give utterance to a clear and soft note. After the breed ing-sea.son they form 

 into flocks of twenty or thirty. They do not run ipiite so rapidly as the riping 

 Plover, nor are they so shy. They rarely mingle with any other species, and show 

 a (h'cided preference for solitary and nnfreipiented jilaces. Their food is almost ex- 

 clusively of a marine character, and consists of minute shell-tish, worms, and small 

 insects. With this food they mingle tine partiides of sand. Jn the fall they iH-come 

 very phuup, ami atford delicious eating. They are said to feed by night as widl as by 

 day, and their i)eculiarly large eyes seem t<i adajit them for nocturnal habits. 



.Mr. Moore, who observed the habits of this bird on Sarasota P>ay, Florida, states 

 that out of tonrteen nests all but four had three eggs in a set, and tln-se had two. 

 The time of in('td)ation is twenty-four or twenty -five days. The eggs were very rarely 

 found placed with the small ends together. Occasionally an interval of one, two, or 

 three days would pass after the dejtosition of an egg before another was laiil. Kggs 

 were first laid April .Sth. No nests weru found nearer to one another than twenty 

 yards. Une was so uear the water and so low as to be Hoodeil at an unusually high 

 tide. 



Three eggs of this species in my collection, taken at T'ape Charles in iH'ti (No. 

 ri21), are of an oblong oval shape, rounded at one end and tap(,'ring at the other. The 

 gnmnd is a dee]> drab, and the markings are of bi.stre intensitied to Idackiie.s.s, irreg- 

 ular in shape, some nmnded, others longitudinal, larger than in ./i\ tiitfot/ti. and with 

 more tendency to cojvlesce almiit the larger end. In one. the markings are nearly 

 confined to the obtu.se end. The measurements are lA't by 1.04 inches; 1.48 by 

 l.O") ; and 1.40 by 1.05 inches. The eggs are much more oval in shape than are those 

 of yE. me/oda. 



Genus PODASOCYS, Coles. 

 Podasocys, ('(irF.s, Pr. I'hilnil. Aiad. 18(lti, !••! (tyiic Chfiradriui monlanun, Towns.) 



Char. Bill iiither .iiimll mid slender (iimch an in 0.ri/''(/i »«), hut longer than the middle toe ; 

 ttti-sus considend>ly more tlinn twice as long as the niidillc toe. Tail short, even, scarcely reaching 

 to the ends of the folded wings. Plumage e.\ceediiigly jdaiii. 



The genus J'odamciin is |>ci'lia]is more nearly related to the Old World Kudromim than t , any 

 American genus, Imt may readily he distinguished by the sevend characters given in the above 

 diagnosis, and in the table on p. 12f). At least oiii- Old W'orlil speci(>s, t'liuriidriim nrndus, GoULD, 

 .seems to he strictly congeneric. We have carefully compared specimens, oiid can liiid no difference 

 whatever in the details of structure. The C. asiatiiut, Pali.as, is said to he n near relation of C, 

 vercdu*, and may also belong to this genus. These two Old World species are characterized by a 

 nifouB pectoral band in the summer plumage, while the American species (P. nunitamui) has the 



