Fajiilv CHAKADRIII)^: Plovers. 



Genus CHARADRIUS Linn.eus. 



Subgenus SQUATAROLA Cuvier. 



CHARADRIUS SQUATAROLA (Linn.). 



119. Black-bellied Plover. (270) 



Adu/f ill href'.diiKj -reason.: — Rarely seen in the Uniteil States; face and entire 

 under parts, T>lack ; uppei' parts, variegated with black and white, or ash}^ ; 

 tail, barred with ?jlack and white; epulis, ilusky with large white patches, 

 AduJtH at other times and young: — Below, white, nioi-e or less shaded with gray; 

 the throat and breast, more oi' less speckled with dusky ; above, blackish, 

 speckled with white or yellowish; the rump, white, with dark bars; legs, dull 

 bluish. Old birds changing show every grade, from a few isolated feathers on 

 the under parts to numerous large black patches. Length, 11-12; wing, 7 or 

 more; tail, 3 ; bill, 1-1^; tarsus, 2; middle toe and claw, Llj ; hind toe, hardly :]. 



Hab. — Nearly cosmopolitan, Ijut chiefly in the northern hemisphei'e, breed- 

 ing far north, and migrating south in wintei', in America, to the West Indies, 

 Brazil and New Grenada. 



Nest, a hollow in the gi'ound, slightly lined with gi-ass. 



Eggs, four, dark gray color, blotched or spotted with brownish-black. 



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