Mountain Plover 135 
at the Colorado Museum, of Natural History at Denver, taken by Hersey 
at Barr in the spring, where it is rare. 
Genus PODASOCYS. 
Resembling gialitis, but without black bands or patches on the 
breast ; tail short, less than half the wing, square ; tarsus long, about 
half as long again as the middle toe and claw ; toes very short, the outer 
one basally webbed. 
This genus contains only one species. 
Mountain Plover. Podasocys montana. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 281—Colorado Records—Allen 72, pp. 152, 159 ; 
Aiken, 72, p. 209; Coues 74, p. 456; Henshaw 75, p. 447; Tresz 81, 
p. 244; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 197; Drew 85, p. 18; Beckham 85, 
p. 143; Dille 86, p. 29; 03, p. 74; W. G. Smith 88, p. 187; Morrison 
89, p. 181; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 68, 201; Warren 06, p. 19; 10, p. 30; 
Markman, 07, p. 156; Henderson 09, p. 228; Hersey & Rockwell 09, 
p. 116. 
Description.—Male—Above pale brown, feathers edged to a varying 
extent with rusty or yellowish; a black band across the front of the 
crown of varying width and purity ; wings dusky, white on the shafts 
and on the bases of some of the inner quills; tail dusky, paler on the 
outer feathers, edged with white; frontal band and lower-parts white, 
a black stripe from the eye to the base of the bill and a rather faint grey 
or tawny band across the chest, but no black ; iris brown, bill black, 
legs pale brown. Length 8-0; wing 5-9; tail 2-4; culmen -9; tarsus 
1-6. The sexes are alike; in winter there is no black crown or loreal 
bands, and the rusty or buff is more evident. . 
Distribution.—Western North America, from Dakota and Texas 
westwards, hardly north of the United States boundary; wintering 
from Texas and northern California to central Mexico. 
The Mountain Plover, in contradistinction, to its name, is a common 
summer resident on the eastern plains of Colorado, though extending 
up into the parks to about 8,000 feet. It is fairly abundant in the 
San Luis Valley (Henshaw), where Warren, also saw a female with two 
half-grown young on July 19th ; South Park (Tresz) and Middle Park 
(Coues). It arrives from the south about the middle of April, though 
noticed as early as March 26th at Fort Lyons and March 18th at Love- 
land, and returns south late in October. It has been reported in 
addition from Greeley (Dille), from Barr, where it is very common on 
dry prairie (Hersey & Rockwell), from El Paso, Lincoln and Huerfano 
cos. (Aiken coll.), from Fort Lyon, eggs June 9 (Thorne), and from 
Baca co. (Warren). I have not heard of it anywhere on the western 
slope. 
