114 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



Food hebbits. — The food of the semipalmated plover, accord- 

 ing to Forbush, "consists largely of small Crustacea, mol- 

 lusks, eggs of marine animals, and insects, which it some- 

 times gleans from ploughed fields. In the interior it feeds 

 on locusts, other Orthoptera and many other terrestrial in- 



PIPING PLOVER: Cha/radHus melodiis (Ord).t 



State records. — The piping plover was once an abundant 

 bird along the Atlantic coast, but in many localities it has 

 been almost exterminated. In Alabama it is a characteristic 

 inhabitant of the sandy beaches on the outer islands, where it 

 occurs in some numbers as a transient visitant, arriving in 

 August and remaining until February and probably later. 

 Gutsell noted it common on Dauphin and Petit Bois Islands 

 from August 6 to September 1, 1911, and I found it numerous 

 on Dauphin Island, February 13, 1912. Specimens were taken 

 there August 22 and 23 and February 13. 



General haMts. — This little plover is most often seen in 

 loose flocks running swiftly over the sands of the ocean 

 beaches, in which situations it is quite inconspicuous. Its call 

 note is described by Chapman as a liquid peep-^eep or peep4o, 

 having a true piping quality. On Long Island the species is 

 sometimes called by the suggestive name of "quill-toot." 



Food habits. — The food of this plover, as indicated by the 

 contents of four stomachs secured in Alabama, consists prin- 

 cipally of marine worms, fly larvae, and beetles. 



CUBAN SNOWY PLOVER : Charadrius nivosus tenuircstris 



(Lawrence) .J 



State records. — The Cuban snowy plover is confined in Ala- 

 bama to the Gulf beaches, where it occurs as a moderately 

 common winter and summer resident. It is known to breed 

 on the coasts of Texas and Mississippi and undoubtedly breeds 

 in small numbers also on the Alabama islands. On both 



•Forbush, S. H., Game birds, wild-fowl, and shore birds, p. 358, 1912. 



tAscialitis meloda of the A. 0. U. Cheek-list ; for change of name see The Auk, vol. 

 37, p. 444. 1920. 



j:Aegrlalltis nivosa of the A. O. U. Check-list; for change of name see The Auk, vol. 

 87, pp. 279, 444, 1920. 



