BIRDS — CHARADRIDAE— SQUATAEOLA HELVETICA. 
697 
SQUATAEOLA HELVETICA, (Linn.) Cuv. 
Black-bellied Plover. 
Tringa helvetica, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, ]766, 250. 
Squalarola helvetica, Cuv. R. A. 1817. 
Charadriushelvclicus, Licht. Verz. 1827, No. 728.— Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838,280; pi. 334.— 1b. Syn. 221.— Ib. 
Birds Araer. V, 1842, 199 ; pi. 315. 
Tringa squalarola, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 252. 
Charadrius hypomelas, Pallas, Zoog. Ross. As. II, 1811, 138. 
Charudrius pardela, Palla^, Zoog. Ross. As. II, 1811, 142. 
Charadrius apricarius, Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, 1813, 41. 
Squalarola cinerea, Cuv. 
Squalarola wilsonii, Liciitenstein. 
Figures.— BufFon, PI. Enl. 853, 854, 923.— Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, pi. 57, fig. 4.— Aud. B. of Am. pi. 334 ; oct. ed. V, pi. 
315 Naumann, B. of Germany, pi. 178.— Gould, B. of Eur. [V, pi. 290. 
Sp. Ch. — Bill and legs strong ; wings long ; a very small rudimentary hind toe. Around the base of the bill to the eyes, neck 
befure and under parts of body, black ; upper white, nearly pure and unspotted on the forehead ; sides of the neck and rump 
tinged with ashy, and having irregular transverse bars of brownish black on the back, scapulars and wing coverts ; the brownish 
black frequently predominating on those parts, and the rump also frequently with transverse bars of the same. Lower part of 
the abdomen, tibia and under tail coverts, white. Quills brownish black, lighter on their inner webs, with a middle portion of 
their shafts white, and a narrow longitudinal stripe of white frequently on the shorter primaries and secondaries. Tail white, 
with transverse imperfect narrow bands of black. Bill and legs black. The black color of the under parts generally with a 
bronzed or coppery lustre, and presenting a scale-like appearance ; the brownish black of the upper parts with a greenish lustre. 
Younger and winter plumage . Entire upper parts dark brown, with circular and irregular small spots of white, and frequently of 
yellow, most numerous on the wing coverts ; upper tail coverts white. Under parts white, with short longitudinal lines and 
spots dark brownish cinereous on the neck and breast; quills brownish black, with large longitudinal spots of white on their 
inner webs and also on the outer webs of the shorter primaries. Young. Upper parts lighter, and with the white spots more 
irregular or scarcely assuming a circular shape ; narrow lines on the neck and breast more numerous. 
Total length about 11£ inches ; wing, 7| ; tail, 3 inches. 
Hah. — All of North America. The seacoasts of nearly all countries of the world. 
This handsome plover is one of the most widely diffused of birds. It inhabits the seacoasts 
and districts on the borders of fresh or salt waters of all known countries within the temperate 
and tropical zones. Tbe black parts of the plumage in this species, which are characteristic of 
the adult bird in spring, are more persistent, than in Ch. virginicus, and much more frequently 
to be observed in specimens obtained in the middle and southern States. 
This bird is the largest of the American species of this group. 
"We can find no characters distinguishing American specimens from those of any other 
country. 
August 3, 1858. 
88 b 
