106 SURF BIRDS AND TURNSTONES 
strongly tinged with buff. Length : 8.00-9.10, wing 6, bill .80-.90, tarsus 
1.50-1.60. 
Distribution. — Western United States, breeding from Texas to Dakota 
and Montana ; west, mainly in winter, to California and south to Lower 
California and San Luis Potosi, Mexico; accidental in Florida. 
Nest. — A slight depression in the prairie lined sparingly with leaves and 
grass. Eggs: 3 or 4, cream color to light olive, spotted with purplish 
gray, dark brown, and black. 
Totally disregarding its name, the mountain plover inhabits the 
high arid plains, breeding in considerable abundance from the Staked 
Plains of Texas to Montana, and in Colorado up to 8000 feet. It is a 
quiet bird, lacking the sharp markings and vociferousness of the kill- 
deer. Instead of haunting the ponds and meadows, it spends its time 
picking up grasshoppers and other small insects from the short prairie 
grass. 
Grinnell reports it a common winter visitor in Los Angeles County, 
California. Vernon Bailey. 
FAMILY APHRIZIDJE: SURF BIRDS AND TURN¬ 
STONES. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Bill stout, with rounded tip; tail slightly emarginate. Aphriza, p. 106. 
1'. Bill with sharp tip inclined upward; tail slightly rounded. 
Arenaria, p. 106. 
GENUS APHRIZA. 
282. Aphriza virgata (GW.). Surf Bird. 
Base of tail, upper coverts, and a broad bar on wing white. Adults in 
summer: upper parts, head, neck, and chest, slaty gray, specked and streaked 
with whitish, and spotted on scapulars 
with rufous; belly white, specked with 
dusky. Adults in winter: like summer 
adults, but with upper parts, head, and 
neck plain dusky or slaty gray. Young: 
back brownish gray, feathers edged with white; throat and breast white, 
streaked with dusky. Length: 10, wing 7, bill .95-1.00, tarsus 1.20-1.25. 
Distribution. — Pacific coast of America from Alaska to Chili. 
The surf bird has never been found in abundance, and its breeding 
grounds are unknown. 
GENUS ARENARIA. 
General Characters. — Bill short and sharp, with the tip inclined up¬ 
wards ; toes unwebbed; lower back and base of tail white; rump white, 
with black patch. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Throat white . .. morinella, 107. 
1. Throat black. melanocephala, 107. 
Fig. 123. 
