BAY BIRDS. 827 
The black-bellied plover, bull-head, or ox-eye (Squat- 
arola helvetica), is one of the commonest of the family. 
The face and under parts are black; the superior parts are 
variegated with black, white, and cinerous; and the tail 
is barred with black and white. This species varies so 
much in plumage at different seasons that it is frequently 
mistaken for its close companion, the whistling plover, 
yet both can readily be distinguished apart. The gold- 
en plover, which is also known as the bull-head, frost- 
bird, and whistling plover (Charadrius fulvus, var. vir- 
ginicus), is smaller than the preceding, but its flesh is 
equally as good. It is scattered throughout the country, 
and is found feeding on prairies and sand bars in immense 
flocks during the autumn. Its back is speckled; the under 
parts are black during the breeding season, and dotted 
with the bright yellow spots from which it derives the 
name of golden plover; the forehead, ramp, and upper 
tail-coverts are white; it has a whitish line over the eye; 
and the tail is grayish-brown, with white or ashy bars. 
The female is rather grayish. This bird has received the 
name of prairie pigeon from some of the western farmers, 
owing to the vast flocks that sweep over the plains in the 
spring and autumn, and devour the grasshoppers which 
sometimes prove a scourge to growing crops. It winters 
on the grassy ranges of the South, and leaves for the 
North in the early part of April, reaching such re- 
gions as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Manitoba about the 
tenth. It is fond of frequenting burnt prairies, plowed 
fields, and bare pastures, being so partial to the latte: 
that it will return to them even after it is driven away 
by fowlers. It is found in sheep pastures in large num- 
bers, as sheep are such close feeders that they leave but 
little grass to cover the earth. It is sure to be a resident 
of fields that are being plowed, as it often follows the 
plow to pick up the worms, which it knows by experience 
are brought to the surface. As it flies close to the ground 
