PLOVERS 



(277) /Egialitis meloda 



{Ord.) (Lat., musical). 



PIPING PLOVER. The palest 

 colored of all our plover. Ad. & — 

 Plumage as shown. In the highest 

 plumage, particularly on birds in 

 the Miss. Valley, the black crescents 

 on the sides of the neck meet, form- 

 ing a complete collar. The 9 in 

 summer and both sexes in winter, 

 have the coronal bar brownish, and 

 less black on the neck. L., 7.00; 

 W., 4.75; Tar., .85; B., .50. Eggs 

 — Three or four, clay-color, with 

 fine black specks 1.25 x .95. 



Range — Breeds locally from N. S., 

 Ont. and Sask. south to Va. and Kan. 

 Winters on the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts. Now quite rare and 

 very local on the Atlantic coast. 



SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, or Ring-necks, as they are 

 more often called, are quiet, unobtrusive shore birds which 

 visit our ponds, marshes, or beaches during August, and 

 again in May. They have a clear, two-syllabled whistle 

 that they utter when disturbed, and sometimes while a flock 

 is flying past. An imitation of the call will usually halt a 

 flock and bring it circling to the beach near the mimic. They 

 show little timidity and, if the observer remains motionless, 

 will run along the water's edge within a few feet of him. 



They may be seen about equally often in flocks of their 

 own species and in mixed flocks containing any of the small 

 sandpipers, with which they are always friendly. 



PIPING PLOVER are a beautiful sand-colored species, 

 locally distributed along shores and beaches of eastern 

 North America. No birds of their size are more nimble of 

 foot ; they can run for long distances faster than a man can 

 walk. Their color matches the sand so closely that it is 

 almost impossible to see a motionless one; they know this 

 and often escape detection because of it. High-plumaged 



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