ROCKY-MOUNTAIN PLOVER. 363 
nostrils basal, linear, open and pervious. Lower mandible with the 
angle rather short, the sides at the base sloping outwards; the dorsal 
line ascending and slightly convex, the edges sharp, the tip rather acute. 
Head of moderate size, oblong, the forehead rounded. Legs rather 
long and slender ; tibia bare half an inch above the joint ; tarsus slender, 
compressed, covered with angular scales, of which the anterior are 
much larger ; toes short, slender, with numerous scutella above, margi- 
nate, the outer connected with the middle by a short membrane. Claws 
small, compressed, slightly arched, rather acute. 
Plumage soft, the feathers rather distinct on the upper parts, blend- 
ed on the lower. Wings long and pointed; primary quills tapering, 
the first longest by a quarter of an inch, the rest rapidly graduated ; 
inner secondaries tapering and elongated, one of them nearly as long 
as the outer primary when the wing is closed. Tail of moderate length, 
even, of twelve feathers. 
Bill black. Feet light dull brownish-yellow. Forehead, a band 
over the eye, fore part of neck, and all the rest of the lower surface, 
white ; top of the head and nape dark yellowish-brown, sides and hind 
part of the neck dull ochre-yellow, which is the prevailing colour on 
the upper parts, the feathers being broadly margined with it while their 
central portion is greyish-brown. Wing-coverts lighter; primary 
coverts and quills dusky, their shafts and margins white, that colour 
becoming more extended on the inner and on some of the secondaries, 
so as to form a conspicuous patch on the wing; inner secondaries like 
the back. Tail yellowish-brown, tipped with yellowish-white, the two 
outer broadly margined with the same. 
Length to end of tail about 8} inches, to end of wings the same, to 
end of claws 91; wing from flexure 63; tail 2}; tarsus 1#; middle 
toe 2, claw 4. 
