64 
WADING BIRDS. 
SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER. 
^GlALltlS SEMIPALMATA. 
Char. Above, brownish ash ; forehead white, bordered with black ; 
band on back of the head and collar on the breast black ; bill orange, 
tipped with hlack. Length about 7 inches. 
Nest. On the margin of a salt-marsh or a swampy inlet of the sea ; a 
slight hollow partially lined with grass or weeds. 
Eggs. 2-4 (usually 4); greenish buff or olive drab, marked with sev- 
eral shades of brown; size variable, average 1.30 X o-9S‘ 
This small species, so nearly related to the Ring Plover of 
Europe, arrives from the South along our sea-coasts and those 
of the Middle States towards the close of April, where it is 
seen feeding and busily collecting its insect fare until the close 
of May. These birds then disappear on their way farther 
north to breed, and in the summer are even observed as far as 
the icy shores of Greenland. According to Richardson they 
abound in Arctic America during the summer, and breed in 
similar situations with the Golden Plover. Mr. Hutchins adds, 
its eggs, generally four, are dark colored and spotted with 
black. The aborigines say that on the approach of stormy 
weather this species utters a chirping noise and claps its wings, 
as if influenced by some instinctive excitement. The same, or 
a very similar species, is also met with in the larger West 
India islands and in Brazil according to the rude figure and 
imperfect description of Piso. 
'I'he early commencement of inclement weather in the cold 
regions selected for their breeding haunts induces the Ring 
Plovers to migrate to the South as soon as their only brood 
have acquired strength for their indispensable journey. Flocks 
of the old and young are thus seen in the vicinity of Boston by 
the close of the first week in August, and they have been 
observed on the shores of the Cumberland, in Tennessee, by 
the ninth of September. 
The Semi-palmated Ring Plover, though so well suited for an 
almost aquatic life, feeds on land as well as marine insects, 
collecting weavels and other kinds, and very assiduously cours- 
