BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. 
45 
lining of the wings white ; the lo7ig feathers of the sides, at the 
junction of the wings, dusky ; primaries paler than in the adult, 
but similarly marked with white. It has no golden or orange 
colored spots. 
I have little doubt that the Black-bellied Plover described by 
Pennant as common at Hudson’s bay, and called there Ilawk’s- 
eye, is this species, although authors record it among the syno- 
nymes of the Golden Plover, in its spring dress. The hind toe of 
this species is very small and slender ; and in dried specimens it 
adheres so closely to the tarsus that it is frequently overlooked. 
It likewise is liable to be rubbed off ; this accident probably oc- 
curred to the specimen figured and described by Edwards, under 
the name of Spotted Plover; for I have no hesitation in pro- 
nouncing it to be of the same species with the subject of this arti- 
cle. The bird figured in the British Zoology of Pennant, as the 
Golden Plover, (Plate LXXII,) appears to be the young of this 
species, in its winter dress ; for it is represented with a hind toe, 
Avhich the true Golden Plover is never furnished with. Hence we 
must conclude that those authors, who describe the latter as hav- 
ing sometimes a hind toe, confound the young of the two species, 
which in truth so nearly resemble 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 tlie sides, 
at the junction of the wings. 
From the length of time which these birds take to acquire 
their full colors, they are found in very various stages of plumage. 
The breast and belly are at first white, gradually appear mottled 
with black, and finally become totally black in the breeding sea- 
son. The spots of orange, or golden, on the crown, hind-head 
and back, are at first white, and sometimes even the breast Use 
M 
VOL. VII. 
