BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER {Sqmt- 

 arola squatarold). These handsome birds are 

 known to sportsmen chiefly as "Beetleheads" 

 or "Bullheads." Nearly a foot in length and 

 heavy-bodied, these plover are among the 

 most highly prized of shore birds, not be- 

 cause their flesh is of unusual merit, for it is 

 not, but because of their imposing size and 

 the fact that they are just wary enough to • 

 furnish good sport. They will come to de- 

 coys, but the gunner must be well concealed; 

 and at the first shot they are off with a rush, 

 never showing that helplessness that char- 

 acterizes the curlew under similar condi- 

 tions. They breed in the Arctic regions 

 and migrate along both coasts, but are quite 

 rare in the interior except casually about the 

 Great Lakes. They winter from the Gulf 

 coast southward. Their flight is powerful, 

 but has an appearance of heaviness because 

 they progress in straight lines with almost 

 continuous flapping instead of twisting, as 

 we are accustomed to see most shore birds 

 do. They are found on mud flats rather 

 than on ocean beaches. 



In winter both adults and young are quite 

 similar in plumage, neither showing any 

 strong black markings; the backs of the 

 latter are spotted with dull yellow which 

 often causes them to be mistaken for young 

 of Golden Plover. The axiUars, or long 

 feathers lining the under side of the wing, are black on this species, while they 

 are gray on the next — an infallible distinguishing mark. The present spe- 

 cies also has a tiny hind toe, while the next has none. 



GOLDEN PLOVER {Charadrius dominicus dominicus) . This is one of 

 the very handsomest of shore birds, adults in summer being unmistak- 

 able, wliile immature birds and winter adults differ from the preceding as 

 explained above. After breeding in Arctic regions they migrate south 

 across the Atlantic from Labrador to the pampas of South America. On the 

 return journey they all pass through the Mississippi Valley. They feed on 

 prairies and side hiUs as Upland Plover do. In consequence of the 

 nature of their food their flesh is very palatable, much more so than that of 

 the preceding. 



41 



BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER 

 GOLDEN PLOVER 



