274 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



shapes that resemble those of ducks and geese. Often as they alight upon the 

 ground their wings are raised high over their backs before being folded into place. 

 The note of this plover is a mellow whistle, which during the breeding-time is suc- 

 cessively repeated and varied until it forms a veritable song. Much less wary than 

 the black-bellied plover, this species is readily decoyed by the imitation of its note. 



The nest of the golden plover, like that of most waders, is a slight affair, con- 

 sisting merely of a depression in the ground lined with a few dead leaves. In this 

 are deposited the four eggs, which are greenish or ochraceous, spotted with dark 

 brown, more heavily about the great end. 



In plumage the American golden plover is very much like the European species, 

 except that the lining of the wing is smoky gray instead of white. It is about 

 ten inches long, some twenty-two in extent, with the wing about seven inches, 

 the bill somewhat less than one inch in length. The upper parts are dark brownish 

 with numerous irregularly circular spots of golden yellow and some of ashy white ; 

 the lower surface is entirely black excepting the under tail-coverts, which are mixed 

 with white ; the tail is dark brown, irregularly barred with whitish ; the forehead, 

 sides of the head above the eyes, and the sides of the neck are white ; the bill is 

 black, the legs dark brown. Young birds are similar, but lack the black of the lower 

 parts. This species in any plumage may be at once distinguished from the black- 

 bellied plover by the absence of any indications of a hind toe. 



EARLY MORNING. 



