78 FEATHERED GAME 
plumage, (the ‘‘pale-belly,’’ as the shore gun- 
ner then calls the bird in distinction from the 
black-breast full dress) there is often a yel- 
lowish tinge on the feathers of the back which 
makes the resemblance to the golden plover still 
greater. 
The length of this species varies from eleven 
to twelve and one-half inches; the extent of 
wings from twenty-two to twenty-four inches. 
Weight from seven to nine ounces. 
THE AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER. 
(Charadrius dominicus.) 
The Golden Plover is somewhat smaller than 
the last species, is three-toed, is of slenderer 
figure and has a smaller and slimmer bill. 
His coloration is darker, and in the full breed- 
ing dress with the jet black breast is even less 
often seen in the United States than is his 
cousin, the beetlehead. As a rule he prefers 
the inland country to the seashore, and is es- 
pecially partial to barren and burnt ground. 
A piece of newly plowed land offers great at- 
tractions to the migrant flocks. In one place 
where the writer often shoots, on the borders 
