70 WADING BIRDS. 



of the gunners along the coast the name of the Black-bellied 

 Killdeer. From a supposed similarity, probably in the note, it 

 is remarkable that the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands de- 

 nominate the Oyster-catcher kielder, and in Iceland the male 

 is named tilldur, and the female tilldra. Indeed, the compass 

 of voice in a great portion of this tribe of birds, more or less 

 related to the Plovers, is remarkable for its similarity. The 

 Betel-headed Plovers usually linger round the sea-coast in the 

 Middle States till the commencement of November, when, 

 the frosts beginning sensibly to diminish their prospect of sub- 

 sistence, they instinctively move off towards the South, proceed- 

 ing probably, at this time, under the shade of twilight, as 

 moving flocks are nowhere, as far as I can learn, seen by day. 

 About the middle of September in the marshes of Chelsea 

 (Mass.) , contiguous to the beach, they sometimes assemble at 

 day-break in flocks of more than a thousand individuals 

 together, and soon after disperse themselves in companies to 

 feed, on the shores, upon small shell-fish and marine insects. 

 This crowding instinct takes place a short time previous to 

 their general migration southward. 



Wilson originated the error that this species breeds in the 

 mountains of Pennsylvania, and Audubon, Richardson, Nuttall, 

 and others have helped to perpetuate it. There is no good evidence 

 obtainable that the bird has nested south of the Hudson Bay dis- 

 trict, but numerous observers have met with it in summer on the 

 Barren Ground region and along the shores of the Arctic Ocean. 

 It has been found in winter in the West Indies and South Amer- 

 ica On its spring migration it goes north by various routes, — 

 across the interior as well as along the coast-line, — but on the 

 Atlantic shores it is more abundant in autumn than in spring. 



I did not meet with any examples during spring on the Bay of 

 Fundy or the New Brunswick shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 but Mr. Boardman informs me that the species occurs sparingly at 

 the mouth of tlie St. Croix River. Stearns reported it common in 

 southern Labrador, but Turner did not find it at Ungava. 



Note. — Occasionally an example of the Lapwing {Vanellus 

 vaftellus) — a European species — visits Greenland. It has been 

 taken on Long Island also. 



