166 PIPING PLOVER. 



the colour of the plumage fades ; and it is then very difficult for you to 

 perceive one that may be only a few yards off", until it starts and runs or 

 flies before you. At this season they are less shy than before. 



During winter they are generally in good condition, and their flesh is. 

 very delicate and savoury, although, on account of their small size, they 

 seldom draw the sportsman after them. Their food consists of marine 

 insects, minute shell-fish, and small sand worms. 



Ringed Plover, CnAHADnius Hiaticula, var. Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. v. p. 30. 



pL 37. fig. 3. 

 Charadrius melodus, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 296. 

 PipiKG Ringed Plover, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 18. 



Male in Summer. Plate CCXX. Fig. 1. 



Bill half the length of the head, straight, somewhat cylindrical. Up- 

 per mandible with the dorsal line straight to the middle, then bulging a 

 little and curving to the tip, which projects beyond that of the lower man- 

 dible, the sides flat and sloping at the base, convex towards the end, the 

 edges sharp and overlapping. Nasal groove extended to the middle of 

 the biU, filled with a bare membrane ; nostrils basal, linear, in the lower 

 part of the membrane, open, and pervious. Lower mandible with the 

 angle rather short, rounded, the sides at the base sloping outwards and 

 flat, the dorsal hne ascending and sHghtly convex, the edges sharp and 

 inflected. 



Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed, the forehead rounded. 

 Eyes large. Neck short. Body rather slender, ovate. Wings long. 

 Feet of moderate length, slender ; tibia bare a little above the joint ; tar- 

 sus rather compressed, covered all round with reticulated angular scales ; 

 toes slender ; the hind toe wanting ; third or middle toe longest, outer 

 toe considerably longer than inner, all scutellate above and marginate, 

 the outer connected with the middle by a short membrane ; claws small, 

 compressed, obtuse, the rather blunt inner edge of the middle claw a little 

 dilated. 



Plumage soft and blended ; the feathers rounded, those on the back 

 somewhat distinct. Wings long and pointed ; primary quills tapering, 

 the first longest, the second a little shorter, the rest rapidly graduated ; 

 inner secondaries tapering and elongated, so as nearly to equal the longest 



