Plovers 



scattered flocks are seen in the migrations chiefly; but it is on 

 the secluded Atlantic beaches, comfortably distant from seaside 

 resorts, that we find the piping plover most abundant. 



The Belted Piping Plover {/T.gialitis meloda circumcincta), a 

 western representative of the preceding, differs from it only in 

 having the black links on the breast joined to form a band. 



The Mountain Plover {y^ialitis montana), a. distinctly prairie 

 bird, rather than a mountaineer, has grayish brown upper parts, 

 the feathers margined with chestnut; the white under parts grow 

 yellowish on breast, but without belt or patches ; the front of the 

 crown and the cheeks black. It is almost nine inches long. It 

 has all the charming grace, quickness of motion, and winning 

 confidence that characterize its clan. 



Wilson's Plover 



(/^gialitis milsonia) 



Length — 7.50 inches. 



Male and Female — Upper parts ashy brown, tinged on nape and 

 sides of head with chestnut ; forehead and under parts white, 

 the white of throat passing around like a collar, and the 

 white of forehead running backward in a line over each eye 

 to nape ; lores, front of crown, and a band across the breast 

 black in male, brownish gray in female; inner tail feathers 

 dark olive, the outer ones becoming white. Bill large, stout, 

 and black ; no colored eye ring ; legs flesh colored. Imma- 

 ture birds look like mother, but have upper parts margined 

 with gray or white, more closely resembling dry sand, if 

 possible, than do the adults. 



Range — America, nesting from Virginia southward; winters south 

 to Central and South America; common on south Atlantic 

 and Gulf beaches and California. 



Season — Summer resident; a few winter in the south. 



A beach bird in the strictest sense, Wilson's plover is never 

 found inland, but close beside tide water on the mud flats that 

 furnish a fresh menu at each ebbing ; or on the dry sand beyond 

 the reach of the surf, where its plumage, in wonderful mimicry of 

 its surroundings, conceals it perfectly. In the short, sparse grass 



247 



