CRARADBIIB2E — CHABABRIINJE : PLOVER. 601 



larly variegated ; several inner pairs like the back, insensibly blackening towards ends, then 

 lightening again, and usually with rusty tips ; lateral ones gainiug more and more of the Ijriglit 

 color of the rump, with more definite black subtcrniiual V)ars, and pure white tips ; outermost 

 pair mostly white, with the rufous shade, and several broken black bars. The effect of all this 

 variegation is very striking wheu the parts are displayed in flight. Bill black ; eye black, 

 with a bright ring around it ; legs pale. Length 9.00-10.00 ; extent 20.00 ; wing 6.00 ; tail 3..50- 

 4.00, proportionally longer and more rounded than usual in this genus; bill 0.80; tibia3 bare 

 O.SO ; tarsus 1.40 ; middle toe and claw 1.13. $ 9 , young: The black bands replaced by gray ; 

 upper parts duller and more grayish ; and when quite young the feathers of the upper parts 

 spotted Aidth rusty brown ; rump pale, markings of tail incomplete ; but the birds speedily 

 acquire a plumage like that of the adults. Downy young: Ab(>\-e, gray with a ruddy tinge; 

 a ring round top of head, a ring round neck, 

 a stripe down back, and another on each 

 side of the colored area, black ; collar round 

 back of neck, forehead, and ends of wing- 

 tufts, white ; tail-tuft and bill black — queer 

 little creatures, readily recognized. N. Am. 

 at large, very abundant, breeding anywhere ; 

 abounds in the West. Not gregarious nor 

 maritime ; extensively but somewhat ir- 

 regularly migratory. A very noisy bird — 

 the curious name is derived from its shrill 

 two-syUabled whistle, like Tcil-deer! hil- 

 deer! Nest anywhere in the grass or 

 shingle near water. Eggs 4, about 1..50 X 

 1.12, of usual wading-bird shape ; ground 



varyine; fi'om drab through clay-color to _ 



•" ° , , . ,, . . ., FiG.419. —Kildeer Plover, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) 



creamy, marked m endless variation with 



blackish-brown. Kildeers' eggs and those of Tringoides mcwularius do excellent duty in boys' 

 and amateurs' cabinets for those of most small waders. 

 585. JE. wilso'nius. (To Alexander Wilson.) Wil.son's Plover. Adult $ 9 : Above, pale 

 ashy-gray (dry-sand color), the feathers with still paler edges, the shade tending to fulvous on 

 the nape and hind neck. A narrow black band across vertex, not reaching to eyes, being cut 

 off by white of the forehead which extends backward over each eye to nape. A blackish loral 

 stripe, not prolonged behind eye, not meeting its fellow over base of bill, where the white fore- 

 head comes down to the bill. A black half-ring on the foreneck, not completed around back 

 of neck. White of throat passing around hind-neck as a slight coUai'. Under parts, excepting 

 the black bar, entirely white. Primaries blackish, bleaching towards bases on inner webs, the 

 short inner ones also with white on outer webs. Shaft of 1st primary almost entirely white ; 

 of others brown, then a long white space, then blackening at end. Secondaries, excepting the 

 long inner ones, mostly white on inner webs, dark on outer. Sliddle and intermediate tail- 

 feathers like back, growing dusky toward ends, nearly all with white tips, and the outer one 

 or two white. No colored ring round eye. Bill entirely black ; extremely large and stout. Legs 

 flesh-colored; outer toe semipalmate, inner cleft. Length 7.00-8.00; wing 4.50-5.00; tail 

 2.00, nearly square ; tarsus about 1.10 ; middle toe and claw 0.90 ; biU 0.90, not much shorter 

 than head. Young : Similar ; no black on vertex or lore ; a broad band of the color of the 

 back across the neck in front. Seacoast of S. Atlantic and Gulf States, common ; N. to the 

 middle districts, and rarely to New England ; also on the Pacific side to California ? S. in 

 winter into S. Am. Eggs laid on the bare shingle of the beach ; usually 3, 1.22 to 1.45 long, 

 1.00 to 1.05 broad, pale olive-drab, more greenish in some cases, more clay-colored in others. 



