428 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFOBNIA 



and throat, dull white; cheek and sides of neck, pale cinnamon; back brownish 

 black with feather margins of pinkish buff or white, producing a scaled 

 appearance; rump brownish black, white at sides; tail as in adult; feathers 

 of outer surface of closed wing chiefly pinkish cinnamon, but with brownish 

 black centers and white tips; primaries and lining of wing as in adult; fore- 

 neck and upper breast pinkish cinnamon, narrowly streaked with black; rest 

 of breast and belly white; sides pinkish cinnamon barred with brownish black. 

 Natal plumage: Upper surface black, white and reddish brown in fine mixed 

 pattern; distinct stripe from base of bill over top of head, black; side of head 

 and chin, white; bill (dried) yellowish brown, dusky along top of upper 

 mandible; band across chest, yellowish brown; rest of under surface white; 

 legs and feet (dried) dull yellow. 



Marks for field identification — Moderately large size (decidedly larger 

 than Killdeer), long neck and slender bill, general mixed buffy and brown 

 color above,' blackish rump, and absence of contrasting white areas; found 

 mainly in pastures and old fields away from water, even when near seashore 

 (Forbush, 1912, p. 315). 



Voice — "Alarm, quip-ip-ip-ip, quip-ip-ip-ip (Langille). Quitty-quit-it-it 

 (Knight). A soft bubbling whistle; song, a prolonged, weird, mournful, 

 mellow whistle, chr-r-r-r-r-ee-e-e-e-e-e-oo-o-o-o-oo (Langille). Wh-o-e-e-et-et-e-e-e 

 e-e-e-o-o-o-ooo (Richard)'" (Forbush, loc. cit.). 



Nest — In dry pasture lands or in wet, even boggy, meadows (Barrows, 

 1912, p. 196) ; usually a mere depression, sometimes sparingly lined with grasses 

 and usually hidden by surrounding herbage (several authors). 



Eggs — i, bluntly pear-shaped, measuring in inches, 1.65 to 1.97 by 1.22 to 

 1.34 (in millimeters, 42.0 to 50.0 by 31.0 to. 34.0), and averaging 1.77 by 1.28 

 (45.0 by 32.5) (sixty-six eggs in U. S. National Museuin) ; ground-color pale 

 olive-buff to cinnamon-buff, superficial spots, rounded, snuff brown and choco- 

 late, deeper ones of violet gray and lilac gray; spots more numerous or con- 

 fluent at larger end. 



General distribution — North and South America. Breeds from north- 

 western Alaska, southern Mackenzie, central Keewatin, central Wisconsin, 

 southern Michigan, southern Ontario, and southern Maine, south to southern 

 Oregon, northern Utah, central Oklahoma, southern Missouri, southern Indiana 

 and northern Virginia; winters on the pampas of South America to Argentina. 

 In migration has occurred north to Newfoundland; casual in California (A. 0. U. 

 Check-list, 1910, p. 123). 



Distribution in California — One instance of occurrence: A single bird 

 taken at Tule [^Ehett] Lake, Modoc County, August 8, 1896 (Cooke, 1910, 

 p. 65). 



The Upland Plover has been recorded but once from California, 

 a single bird having been taken by Vernon Bailey of the United States 

 Bureau of Biological Survey at Tule [=Rhett] Lake, Modoc County, 

 August 8, 1896 (Cooke, 1910, p. 65). The species is here included in 

 order to complete the list of game birds which have been found within 

 the state, and also to enable persons capturing additional specimens to 

 recognize the bird and so to be apprized of its status. It is not 

 unlikely that close obseI^^ation in the northeastern corner of the state 

 would show the regular presence there of this species at certain seasons. 



