76 WATER BIRDS 



its wings in a peculiar butterfly fashion when alighting. 

 It is not so commonly found in the interior as other 

 members of its family, and probes in the sand of the 

 beach for its food rather than in the salt meadows ; its 

 favorite food is small snails, water-spiders, and crayfish. 



270. BLACK-BELLIED VI.OVKR. — Squatarola. 



(Common names : Beetle-head ; Oxeye ; Whistling Field 

 Plover; Bull-head Plover; Swiss Plover.) 



Family : The Plovers. 



Length: 11.00. 



Adults in Siimnwr : Sides of head and neck and under parts black ; lower 



belly and under tall-coverts white; upper parts mottled black and 



white ; tail white, barred with black. 

 Adults in Winter: Upper parts brownish gray, mottled with lighter, 



and under parts white, streaked with gray. 

 Young : Similar to winter adults, but spotted on upper parts with buff. 

 Geographical Distribution : Nearly cosmopolitan. 

 Breeding Range : Arctic regions. 

 Breeding Season : July. 



Nest: A mere depression in the soil, lined with dry grass. 

 Eggs : 4 ; light buffy olive, heavily marked with brown or black. Size 



2.04 X 1.43. 



The Black-bellied, or Beetle-head Plover is a com- 

 mon migrant on the California coast. Each spring 

 and fall flocks may be seen flying in lines or wedge- 

 shaped ranks after the manner of geese, and their mellow 

 three-noted whistle sounds clearly above the roar of the 

 surf. These birds run along the beach at the edge of 

 the water, snatching up the sea food left by the receding 

 tide, and when the turn sets in they retreat to the higher 

 sand banks to be out of the way of a wetting. The 



