76 FEATHERED GAME 
the right, now veering to the left, now the jet 
black breasts, now the gray backs and the white 
spots on the rumps and tail coverts showing 
like foamy fleckings from the breakers over 
which they skim. To my mind this is the prince 
of all the plover tribe—the worthiest member 
of a noble family. 
Probably the Beetlehead is the fleetest of 
wing among the bay birds, the ‘‘golden’’ being 
the only one having the right to challenge his 
title. 
Many gunners confuse this bird with the 
golden plover, and indeed the two are much 
alike, yet in addition to the Beetlehead’s greater 
size there is one marked difference on which the 
species is founded and which makes the Beetle- 
head unmistakable in any plumage—he has a 
hind toe, small and rudimentary, ’tis true, but 
plainly showing in every one of the species. 
The ‘‘golden,’’ as is the case of all our other 
true plovers, lacks this. For his other mark- 
ings, in his full dress uniform—(we all want 
our pictures taken in our wedding clothes, and 
so, it is likely, does our beautiful visitor)— 
above the Beetlehead is colored with a mixture 
of black, dusky gray and white, the darker 
