PLOVERS 



(274) .^gialitis semipalmata 



(Bnnap.) (Gr,, a seashore worker; Lat., 

 half-webbed). 



SEMIPALMATED PLOVER; 

 RING PLOVER ; RING-NECK. 



Toes conspicuously half-webbed. Bill 

 orange, with a black tip. Legs 

 flesh-color. Ads. in summer — Plum- 

 age as shown; the black neck-band 

 making a complete collar, although 

 narrow on the back of the neck. 

 Immature birds and winter adults 

 differ in having the head and neck 

 markings more or less grayish. L., 

 7.00; W., 4.80; Tar., .go; B., .50. 

 Range — Breeds in the northern 

 half of Canada. Winters from the 

 Southern States, southward. 



(275) /Egialitis hiaticula 

 RINGED PLOVER. An Euro- 

 pean species, breeding in Greenland. 



hunters, but is solely because of their loud, strident and 

 often incessant vocal efforts, which are best likened to the 

 syllables "kill-dee." When they are angry — and during 

 the nesting season it requires no provocation to make them 

 that way — the usual note is changed to a harsh, almost 

 screaming "dee-dee-dee," etc., repeated as long as an in- 

 truder is near, with an energy that seemingly might burst 

 their throats. Where they are not very common, these notes 

 always prove welcome to farmers or any one strolling the 

 fields, but where they are so numerous that the complaining 

 calls can be heard practically all the time, they may become 

 a nuisance. 



Just a hoUow on the ground, anywhere in a meadow, corn- 

 field, or pasture, provided that water is not far oft", suffices 

 them for a nest; sometimes a slight lining is pro\'ided for the 

 boldly spotted greenish-buff eggs. If a nest is in danger of 

 discovery, the owners and those of every other nest in the 

 vicinity join forces to lead the dangerous element away, 

 making as much noise as is possible. 



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