SHORE BIRDS 



278. Snowy Plover. Msialit 



IS nivosa. 



Range. — Breeds along the Pacilic coast of the United States, and from Texas 

 to Manitoba in the interior. Winters on the California coast and south to Chili. 



Snowj' Plovers are very much like the Piping, but 

 are smaller (length 6. .5 inches), have a longer and 

 more slender bill, and have a small black patch on 

 the side of head. It is the palest colored of the 

 Plovers. Large numbers of them nest along the 

 Pacific coast and in Texas; north of Texas, in the 

 interior, they are locally distributed. The eggs are 

 pale clay color, marked with small scratchy dots of 

 black. Size 1.20 x .90. Data.— Newport Beach. Cali- 

 fornia. May 1, 1S97. Nest a hollow in the sand, a 

 short distance above high water; lined with broken 

 shell. Collector, Evan Davis. 



l>al.- buff. 



[279.] Mongolian Plover. /Egialitis mongola. 



An inhabitant of the Old World, awarded a place in our avifauna because of 

 its accidental occurrence at Alaska, 



SPOTTED SANDPIPER AND NEST. 



167 



