CHAEADEIU8. 



Plates.— Wilson^ Am. Orn. pi. 73. fig. 5 ; Audubon, Birds Am. v. pi. 319. 

 Habits. — Baird, Bre-vrer, & Eidgway, Water-Birds N. Amer. i. p. 168. 

 Eggs. — Described by Brewer on p. 171 of the above-mentioned volume. 



155 



Literature. 



Wilson's Plover is one of the connecting links betvi^een the jEgialopliili majores and 

 the ^ffialophili minores, but on account of its large bill loith the terminal vault measuring 

 nearly half an inch, is perhaps better classed amongst the larger than amongst the smaller 

 species. It is the only species of the group which combines the character of a large bill 

 with pale legs and feet. The fact that its central upper tail-coverts are of almost the same 

 colour as the rest of the upper parts is an argument against placing it in the group of 

 smaller species, all of which have very dark central upper tail-coverts. 



The adult male has a black band across the breast. In the female and bird of the 

 year it is brown. In young in first plumage it may possibly be absent. 



Wilson's Sand-Plover is essentially a shore bird, breeding, and probably resident, on 

 the coasts of tropical and subtropical America, as far north as California and New York, 

 and as far south as Peru and Brazil. 



It breeds on the Behze coast of British Honduras (Salvin, Ibis, 1864, p. 387), but is 

 said to be only an autumn visitor to the island of Trinidad. On the west coast of South 

 America it has occurred as far south as the southern shores of the Bay of Guayaquil in the 

 extreme north of Peru (Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877, p. 330). On the east coast 

 Goering obtained it in Venezuela (Sclater & Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 169) ; I have 

 an example from Cape Orange, between French Guiana and Brazil, and one obtained by 

 Capt. Harrison at Camamu, a hundred miles south of Bahia. 



It appears to be most nearly allied to C. geopoyi and C. collaris ; from the latter it 

 scarcely differs except in its larger size and paler central upper tail-coverts. Its length of 

 wing from carpal joint varies from 4'8 to 4" 5 inch. 



Subspeciflo 

 characters. 



Sexual 

 variations. 



Geographi- 

 cal distribu- 

 tion. 



Nearest 

 allies. 



CHARADRIUS FALKLANDICUS. 



PATAGONIAN PLOVER. 



Charadbius, subgen. jEgialophili majores, pectore fasciis duabus, aut nigris (in adult.), aut Diagnosis, 

 griseis (in juv.), ornato : caudd sequali, non cuneata. 



No local races of this species are known. 



Variations. 



x2 



