214 
ROOKY-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, com- 
pressed, 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 atid 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 8J inches, to end of wings the same, to end of 
claws 9i ; wing from flexure 6i ; tail 2J ; tarsus IV ; middle toe 3, claw 
WILSON’S PLOVER. 
Charadrius Wilsonius, 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 
