214 ROCKY-MOUNTAIN PLOVER. 



base sloping outwards; the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the 

 edges sharp, the tip rather acute. 



Head of moderate size, oblong, the forehead rounded. Legs rather long 

 and slender; tibia bare half an inch above the joint; tarsus slender, compress- 

 ed, covered with angular scales, of which the anterior are much larger; toes 

 short, slender, with numerous scutella above, marginate, the outer connected 

 with the middle by a short membrane. Claws small, compressed, slightly 

 arched, rather acute. 



Plumage soft, the feathers rather distinct on the upper parts, blended on 

 the lower. Wings long and pointed; primary quills tapering, the first long- 

 est by a quarter of an inch, the rest rapidly graduated; inner secondaries 

 tapering and elongated, one of them nearly as long as the outer primary 

 when the wing is closed. Tail of moderate length, even, of twelve feathers. 



Bill black. Feet light dull brownish-yellow. Forehead, a band over the 

 eye, fore part of neck, and all the rest of the lower surface, white; top of the 

 head and nape dark yellowish-brown, sides and hind part of the neck dull 

 ochre-yellow, which is the prevailing colour on the upper parts, the feathers 

 being broadly margined with it, while their central portion is greyish-brown. 

 Wing-coverts lighter; primary coverts and quills dusky, their shafts and 

 margins white, that colour becoming more extended on the inner and on 

 some of the secondaries, so as to form a conspicuous patch on the wing; 

 inner secondaries like the back. Tail yellowish-brown, tipped with yellow- 

 ish-white, the two outer broadly margined with the same. 



Length to end of tail about Si inches, to end of wings the same, to end of 

 claws 9i; wing from flexure 6^; tail 2^; tarsus 1^; middle toe f, claw %. 



WILSON'S PLOVER. 



~ Charadrius Wilsoxius, Ord. 



PLATE CCCXIX.— Male and Female. 



Reader, imagine yourself standing motionless on some of the sandy shores 

 between South Carolina and the extremity of Florida, waiting with impa- 

 tience for the return of day; — or, if you dislike the idea, imagine me there. 

 The air is warm and pleasant, the smooth sea reflects the feeble glimmerings 



