NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 129 



The eggs are regarded as a delicacy and are much sought after in 

 all districts where the bird is common. 



270. Charadrius squatarola (Linn.) [513.] 



Black-'bellied Plover. 



Hab. Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere, breeding far north; migrating south in winter; in 

 America to Brazil, New Grenada and the West Indies. 



This handsome bird is known by several different names : Beetle- 

 head, Ox-eye, Whistling Field Plover, Bull-head Plover and Swiss 

 Plover. It is a species of wide distribution, being nearly cosmopolitan 

 during its migrations, wandering through Southern Asia, Northern and 

 Southern Africa, Australia, the West Indies, Central and South Amer- 

 ica to Brazil. The eggs have only been taken in the extreme Arctic 

 regions — on both sides of the Ural Mountains in Northern Russia — 

 the banks of the Taimyr in the East and the tundras of the Petchora 

 River in the West. In North America it has been found breeding in 

 various places in the Arctic regions, as on the islands of Franklin Bay 

 on the Arctic coast, in the first part of July and on the Barren Lands. 

 It is also known to breed in Greenland. All the nests found are mere 

 depressions in the ground with a slight lining of grasses and leaves. 



The eggs are described as being very similar to those of the Gold- 

 en Plover, C. apricarius, or those of the Lapwing ; pyriform in shape, 

 varying from light buffy-olive to deep olive-buff, thickly and heavily 

 marked with brownish-black or deep black; average size, 2.04x1.43. 



[271.] Charadrius apricarius Linn. [514.] 



Golden Plover> 



Hab. Europe; in winter south into Africa. Greenland. 



The European Golden Plover is like the American bird, but the 

 linings of the wings are white. In Great Britain during the winter 

 months it is one of the most abundant species ; in summer returning to 

 the moorlands of Scotland and Ireland, and northward to the Orkney 

 and Shetland Islands, where it breeds. It is found in Norway, Sweden 

 and in Lapland. Breeds also in the Faroes, in Iceland and in Eastern 

 Greenland. The nest is simply a hollow in the ground, lined with a 

 few grasses. The full complement of eggs is four and seem exceeding 

 large for the size of the bird. 



The ground color in a large series of these eggs varies consider- 

 ably — creamy- white, others with a much darker shade of the same, 

 and again of a dark chocolate-brown. On these different ground-colors 

 the large, bold spots and confluent blotches of brownish-black present 

 quite a varied appearance. Eight eggs in my cabinet from Renfrew, 

 Scotland, measure, 2.02x1.43, 2.08x1.37, 2.10x1.38; 2.11x1.45, 

 1.96x1.40,2.01x1.37,2.08x1.40, 2.12x1.43, Average, 2.08x1.42. 



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