PLOVERS 



(269) Vanellus vanellus (Linn.) ^' 



LAPWING; PEWIT. A common 

 European species. Casual in Green- 

 land, Nova Scotia, and Long Island. 



(270) Squatarola squatarola 



(Linn.) (Ital. name for this species). 



BLACK - BELLIED PLOVER ; 

 BEETLE-HEAD ; BULL-HEAD. 

 Hind toe very small, this being our 

 only plover having a hind toe. 

 Axillars black, showing conspicu- 

 ously against the gray under wing 

 surfaces. Ads. in summer — Plum- 

 age as shown. In winter — Above 

 gray, spotted with white; below 

 whitish, indistinctly streaked with 

 gray. Young birds often have the 

 back washed with yellowish. L., 

 11.50; W., 7.25; Tar., 2,00 ; B., 1.15. 



Range — Breeds in Arctic regions. 

 Migrates through the U. S. 



encountered. It is more than likely that storms against 

 which they could not prevail drove most of them to destruc- 

 tion. Their northward flight was performed chiefly through 

 the interior of the United States. They fllew in compact 

 flocks and decoyed readily, with the result that quantities 

 of them were slaughtered annually, but certainly not enough 

 to have caused such a sudden, almost total extinction. 



Family CHARADRIIDJE. Plovers 



A large and important family agreeing in having plump 

 bodies, short, thick necks, and stout bills of moderate 

 length. The toes are generally three in number, and the 

 tarsus is reticulate, while that of sandpipers is scutel- 

 late. 



BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, in their breeding plumage, 

 are very handsome birds. Although breeding along the 

 Arctic coast, many individuals pass through the United 

 States before they have donned their less brilliant winter 

 plumage. Immature birds. Bull-heads as they are then 



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