BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. 
367 
that it is frequently overlooked. It likewise is liable to be rubbed off; 
this accident probably occurred to the specimen figured and described 
by Edwards, under the name of Spotted Plover ; for I have no hesita- 
tion in pronouncing it to be of the same species with the subject of this 
article. The bird figured in the British Zoology of Pennant, as the 
Golden Plover (Plate LXXIL), appears to be the young of this species, 
in its winter dress ; for it is represented with a hind toe, which the true 
Golden Plover is never furnished with. Hence we must conclude that 
those authors, who describe the latter as having sometimes a hind toe, 
confound the young of the two species, which in truth so nearly resem- 
ble each other in their plumage that it requires a close observation to 
distinguish them. But the young of the Black-bellied Plover, or 
present species, may be known by their large head and stout bill ; by 
their hind toe ; and by the long dusky or black feathers which lie next 
to the sides, at the junction of the wings. 
In the Manuel d'Ornithologie of Temminck, unquestionably the best 
work on the birds of Europe which has ever been published, the changes 
which this species undergoes are clearly detailed ; and its synonymes 
are so well settled, that the future ornithologist will find his labors much 
lightened, when the subject of this article, in any stage of plumage, 
shall come before him. In the excellent Supplement to Montagu's 
Ornithological Dictionary we are also presented with some valuable re- 
ferences ; and the editor of this volume with pleasure acknowledges the 
sources whence he has drawn that information which has enabled him 
to determine the species. 
