BiBDS OF Ijsdiana. 'J' 3 5 



XX. Family CHARADRIID^. Plovers. 



«'. Plumage above speckled, below black in breeding season. Chabadbius. 59 

 a^. Plumage of upper parts not speckled ; neck, with dark rings ; toes, always 

 three. jEgialitis. 60 



59. Gbnus CHAKADKIUS Linn^os. 



«'. Hind toe well develope'd, without claw. 



Subgenus SquAtarola Cuvier. C. sqiiatarola (Linn.). 113 

 «". Hind toe' absent. Subgenus Charadriu^. C. dominicus Miill. 114 



Subgenus Squataroi.a Cuvier. 



113. (270). Charadrius squatarola (Linn.). 



Black-bellied Plover. 

 Synonyms, Ox-eye, Buli,-head. 



Black-bellied Plover. Natural size. 



Adult in Breeding Season. — Earely seen in the Umted States; face 

 and entire under parts, black; upper parts, variegated with black and 

 white, or ashy; tail, barred with black and white; quills, dusky, with 

 large white patches. Adults at other times and Immature. — Below, 

 white, more or less shaded with gray; the throat and breast, more or 

 less speckled with duslsy; above, blackish, speckled with white or yel- 

 lowish; the rump, white, with dark bars; legs, dull bluish. Old birds 

 changing show every grade, from a few isolated feathers on the under 

 parts to numerous large black patches. They may be recognized in 

 any plumage by the small hind toe. 



Length, 10.50-12.00; wing, 7.50; calmen, 1.10; tarsus, 1.95. 



Eange. — Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds in the Arctic regions, and 

 winters from Louisiana and Florida southward. It has been recently 

 shown that the Black-beUied Plover and a number of other birds, in- 

 cluding the Knot, Hudsonian Curlew, and Turnstone, which have 

 been credited with spending the breeding season in the Arctic regions. 



