FAM. XXXV III. PLOVERS 



233 



Wilson's Plover 



7. Wilson's Plover (280. yEgiaFitis wilsdnia). — A southern, 

 common, brownish-gray-backed, white-bellied plover, with a 

 broad black band 



across the upper part 

 of the breast and black- 

 ish wing quills. The 

 forehead and line 

 over the eye are white, 

 lores blackish, and a 

 black band across the 

 front of the crown. 

 There is a more or less 

 complete white band 

 across the back neck. 

 The female has the 

 breast band brownish- 

 gray. This is a gen- 

 tle, fearless bird, of the sandy marine beaches and mud fiats. 



Length, 75 ; wing, 4} (4^-5); tail, 2 ; tarsus, 1 j ; culmen, J. Coasts 

 of America from Long Island and Lower California to Brazil and Peru; 

 breeding from Virginia southward, and wintering from Mexico south- 

 ward. 



8. Mountain Plover (281. JEriiaDtis monfiXna). — A tame, 

 western, grayish-brown-backed, whitish-bellied plover, with 

 blackish wing quills. The fore part of crown and a stripe 

 from the eye to the bill are black ; forehead and stripe over the 

 eye white ; the breast has an indistinct cross band of ochraceous, 

 darkest on the sides. The feathers of the back are margined 

 with rufous. The young has the head, neck, and upper breast 

 like the back. This bird inhabits the dryest of the plains and 

 grassy districts of the west in large flocks. It rises from the 

 ground by several quick flaps of the wings, and, usually near 

 the ground, circles through the air most gracefully. 



Length, 9; wing, 5} (oJ-B); tail, 2| ; tarsus, If; culmen, |. Chiefly 

 on the Plains ; breeding from central Kansas to the British boundary, and 

 wintering mainly southwestward to central California, and south into 

 Mexico. Accidental in Florida. 



