BLACK-BELLIED PLOVEIl 457 



[In migration] when tired at sea they will alight on masses of floating sea- 

 weed, and also on the ocean where they sit buoyantly, swimming with ease, 

 experiencing no difficulty in taking wing. 



When feeding on the mud flats the Black-bellied Plover M^alk 

 slowly and usually stand with their weight on one foot, the other being 

 held disengaged. Probing is carried on in a more sedate fashion 

 than with the smaller waders, the bill being thrust into the mud but 

 once in a particular spot and usually at an angle of about 45 degrees. 

 Occasionally they bow profoundly, the head almost touching the 

 ground. All the movements are dignified. The flight is swift and 

 direct, with steady wing-beats which seem to cover an arc of almost 

 180 degrees so that the black axillars are prominently displayed at 

 each up-stroke (Grinnell and Storer, MS). 



A flock of about 150 Black-bellied Plover was seen repeatedly on 

 the beach near Santa Barbara in the fall of 1911. When first noted, 

 on September 5, they were extremely wild, and the most careful stalk- 

 ing would permit of no closer approach than 200 yards. During the 

 succeeding two weeks the flock dwindled considerably in numbers 

 but became much tamer. By October 1, the birds on the beach were so 

 tame that they would allow a person to approach within thirty yards. 

 The diminution in numbers was not due to hunting, but probably to 

 individuals or small groups withdrawing from the locality (Bowles 

 and Howell, 1912, p. 11; Howell, MS). 



Flocks of migrants which Beck (MS) encountered at Los Baiios, 

 Merced County, during April, 1912, were wont to alight for rest at 

 the margins of large ponds. Occasionally they would be found forag- 

 ing on high ground in the vicinity. 



The breeding range of the Black-bellied Plover extends over a 

 considerable portion of the Arctic coasts of America and Eurasia, but 

 published accounts of the nesting of the species are few in number. 

 Reed (1904, p. 127) states that eggs were taken at Point Barrow, 

 Alaska, in June, 1900; and MacFarlane (1891, p. 429) says that he 

 secured sets on July 4 and 5, 1864, at Island Point, Franklin Bay, 

 Canada. These, together with the migration data available, indicate 

 that the nesting season occupies the latter part of June and early part 

 of July. 



MacFarlane (1891, p. 429) says of the set secured on July 4, 1864: 

 ' ' The nest contained four eggs and was composed of a small quantity 

 of withered grasses placed in a depression on the side or face of a 

 very gentle eminence." The eggs taken by MacFarlane measure, in 

 inches, 1.90 to 2.30 by 1.40 to 1.47. The ground-color is light greenish 

 drab or rufous drab, with quite uniformly colored spots of dark umber 

 or bister and deeper spots of a lighter color. These eggs differ from 

 those of the Golden Plover in being longer and proportionately broader 



