THE BIRD BOOK 
Wilson’s Plover 
Mountain Plover. 
Brownish gray. 
280 . Wilson’s Plover. 
Octhodrovius wilsonius. 
Range. — An abundant breeding species on the 
Gulf coast, coast of Lower California, and on the 
Atlantic coast north to Virginia, and casually 
farther. 
A common Plover, which may be distinguished 
from others of the genus by its comparatively 
large heavy black bill, and the single broad black 
band across the 
breast, and not ex- 
tending around the 
back of the neck. 
They nest on peb- 
bly “shingle” or in 
the marsh, back of 
the beaches. Their 
eggs are an olive 
gray color and are 
spotted and scratch- 
ed with blackish 
brown, with some 
fainter markings of gray. Size 1.40 x 1.05. Data. 
— Corpus Christi, Texas, May 10, 1899. 4 eggs 
laid on the ground among drifted grass on a salt 
marsh near town. Collector, Frank B. Arm- 
strong. 
':-3 v/.'\ 
** } 
Olive gray. 
281 . Mountain Plover. Podasocys montanus 
Range. — Plains and prairies of western North 
America, breeding from the central portions 
north to Manitoba, and wintering in California 
and southward. 
A very peculiar species, inhabiting even the 
driest portions of the western prairies. It is 9 
inches in length, and has a plumage of a pale 
buffy tone. It seems to be less aquatic than any 
other American Plover and is rarely found in the 
vicinity of bodies of water. It nests on the ground 
anywhere on the prairie, laying its eggs in a 
slight hollow. The eggs are brownish gray in 
color and are spotted and blotched with blackish 
brown. Data. — Morgan county, Colorado, May 7, 
1902. Nest a slight hollow on the ground, near a 
large cactus bed and close to a water hole. No 
lining to nest. Collector, Glenn S. White. 
168 
