172 CHARADRIID^ : PLOVERS. 



of a specimen shot in Shinnecock Bay, May 28, 1879 

 (Bull. Nutt. Club, iv, 1879, p. 242). 



Whatever uncertainty may attach to the early New 

 England records, there can be none respecting that re- 

 cently given by Coues, of a specimen shot by Mr. Arthur 

 S. Fiske, at Gurnett, Mass. (not " Conn." as printed), 

 Aug. 22, 1877 (Bull. Nutt. Club, vii, 1882, p. 59). 



If our collectors will keep a sharp lookout, no doubt 

 other specimens will be forthcoming in due time, not 

 only from Connecticut, but also from Massachusetts. 

 This Plover is one of the " beach birds," not unlike the 

 Semipalmated and Piping Ring Plovers in general ap- 

 pearance, but instantly to be distinguished by its larger 

 size and great black bill. It nests on the shingle back 

 of the beach, and its eggs, usually 3 in number, offer the 

 following characters: "Length, 1.22 to 1.45; breadth, 

 1. 00 to 1.05 ; ground-color, pale olive-drab, more inclin- 

 ing to green in some cases, to brown in others, but 

 always very pale, thickly marked all over with blackish- 

 brown in irregular, sharply-defined spots, small splashes, 

 and fine dots. In some specimens the markings show 

 a tendency to run into fine lines, and in these are the 

 smallest, darkest and most numerous [most evenly dis- 

 tributed], and most sharply outlined ; but ordinarily the 

 distinctive speckled character is maintained. Com- 

 monly the markings are rather larger, and consequently 

 more thickly set, on the larger part of the egg, where 

 there is also some tendency to run together, though 

 scarcely to form a ring around the butt ; but in none of 

 the specimens examined was the pointed end free from 

 spots. Here and there may usually be observed a few 

 pale, obsolete spots, but they are not conspicuous ; in 

 fact, hardly to be detected without close scrutiny." 



