WILSON PLOVES 479 



Wilson Plover 



Ochthodromus wilsowius wilsonius (Ord) 



Other name — Aegialitis wilsonia. 



Description — Adult male: Forehead and line over eye, chin and upper throat, 

 white; forepart of erown and sometimes stripe from bill to eye, black; iris 

 reddish brown; bill black; ear region, top and back of head, whole back, rump, 

 middle upper tail coverts and outer surface of closed wing, ashy brown; back 

 of head tinged with buff; outer upper tail coverts and outer tail feathers, white; 

 middle tail feathers dark brown; tips of greater wing coverts white, forming 

 a narrow bar across wing; primaries dark brown, their shafts chiefly white, 

 outer one entirely so; margin of wing mottled light brown and white; lining 

 of wing and axillars, white; under surface of flight feathers pale dusky; broad 

 band across lower throat and upper breast, black; rest of under surface white; 

 feet light flesh color, claws dusky. Adult female: Similar to adult male but 

 with black replaced by brownish; breast band suffused with light bufi. Total 

 length (both sexes): "7.50-7.90" inches (190-200 mm.) (Eidgway, 1900, p. 

 175). Male: folded vnng 4.25 (108); bill along culmen 0.85 (21.6); tarsus 1.16 

 (29.4) (one specimen from California). Juvenile plumage: Similar to that of 

 adult male but with black replaced by brown and feathers of upper surface 

 edged with paler brown. Natal plumage: Forehead, sides of head, and band 

 around neck, white; stripe through eye black; upper surface grayish buff, 

 mottled with black; last joint of wing and whole lower surface white (descrip- 

 tions adapted from: Sanford, Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903, p. 477; Bidgway, 

 1900, p. 175; Baird, Brewer and Eidgway, 1884, I, p. 169; and one specimen 

 from California). 



Masks for field" identification — Small size (much smaller than Killdeer), 

 chunky appearance, stout, wholly black bill (about as long as head), single 

 broad black or dark brown band across upper breast, brow white to base of 

 bill, and uniformly grayish brown upper surface of body. 



Voice — A "slightly rolling" cry; "half a whistle and half a chirp" (Baird, 

 Brewer and Eidgway, 1884, I, p. 170). 



Nest — Usually on dry open sandy beaches some distance back from the 

 water; at times in short grass; a mere depression in the bare sand (Cones, 

 1869, p. 345); occasionally it is lined with a few bits of drift material. 



Eggs — Usually 3, but at times 2, pear-shaped, measuring in inches, 1.22 to 

 1.45 by 1.00 to 1.05 (in millimeters, 31.0 to 36.8 by 25.4 to 26.6); ground color 

 pale olive-drab of either a greenish or brownish cast; superficial markings of 

 blackish brown consisting of spots and lines in fine pattern, most numerous 

 about the larger end; deeper markings are also present (Coues, 1869, pp. 348- 

 349). 



General distribution — Middle America and southern North America. Breeds 

 on Atlantic coast from southeastern Virginia (formerly from New Jersey) south 

 to the northern Bahamas, and along Gulf Coast west to Texas, and probably 

 on Pacific coast from southern Lower California to Guatemala; probably resi- 

 dent on Pacific side; casual (?) at San Diego, California (modified from Cooke, 

 1910, pp. 93-94). 



Distribution in California — One record: Adult male in worn breeding 

 plumage taken at Pacific Beach, San Diego County, June 29, 1894 (Ingersoll, 

 1895, p. 87; Grinnell, 19026, p. 197). 



