396 
BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA (Covgs),. 
BARTRAM’S TATTLER: FIELD PLOVER. 
Specific Character.—Bill about as long as the head, rather-wide and flattened 
at the bases, lightly curved at the tip; nostrils with a large membrane; nasal 
groove, long; wings, long; tail, long for this group ; legs, moderate or rather 
long; lower half of the tibia naked ; toes, moderate, the outer and middle united 
by a membrane, inner and middle free to the base ; hind toe, small; above, gray- 
ish brown, the feathers paler and more ochraceous towards their edges, spotted 
and barred with black; head and neck, exeept throat, streaked with blackish ; 
crown, blackish, divided by a mesial line of buff; throat, belly and crissum, plain 
buffy white ; axillars, pure white and clear dusky slate in regular bars of nearly 
equal width ; tail feathers, except middle pair, creamy buff broadly tipped with 
white, crossed by a broad subterminal black spot, and with a few irregular narrow 
bars anterior to this ; outer webs of primaries, plain dusky slate; the inner webs 
with wide transverse bars of white on the outer quill, on the others broken into 
a confused mottling. Rump and upper tail coverts, nearly uniform blackish ; the 
outer feathers of the latter with their exterior webs partly white. 
Total length about 12 inches ; wing, 6.50; culmen, 1.10; tarsus, 1.90 : middle 
toe, 1.00. . 
This “Tattler,” or as it is more commonly called by sportsmen, “Upland or 
Field plover,” is pretty plentifully distributed throughout the United States, also 
in South America. It breeds in the States along Lake Erie and north—-said to be 
very common on the Saskatchewan plains. It breeds regularly along the north 
shore of Lake Erie, in probably all of the southern counties of Ontario. Although 
a wader it seldom wades, preferring dry pastures and ploughed fields near the 
water, living upon crickets, grasshoppers and other small insects, upon which it 
grows very fat. 
It is then considered a great delicacy for the table. In Ontario it is generally 
found in small flocks of from six to eight. Unlike many others of the family it 
is very fond of alighting on the fence, but is mainly a terrestrial bird. The nest 
of this bird is always upon the ground, and usually contains four eggs. The 
Upland Plover generally reaches Ontario early in April, and leaves about the first 
of October. 
