SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 
815 
(empty scrape, number of eggs, and number of 
chicks) and date once a nest was located. We 
recorded the contents of the scrape from the center 
out for 10 cm documenting presence or absence of 
shells, vegetation, rocks, and bare ground in the 
immediate area of the nest scrape. 
Visits were conducted every 5 days to record 
(he current nest contents following the initial 
detection of a nest scrape. Nests were considered 
successful when >1 chick hatched, and unsuc¬ 
cessful (failed) when no chicks were produced 
from the nest. We surveyed the area for signs 
suggesting cause (i.e.. tracks from a predator 
leading to the nest) in the event a nest failed. We 
recorded number of chicks and their feathering 
status during each survey once chicks hatched and 
We re mobile. Chicks were not marked but nest 
origins were generally identifiable by their 
geographic location and large space between 
acl >ve nests with chicks. Chicks were followed 
“ntil the end of the survey period, but were 
considered fledged after 21 days (Tomkins 1944). 
We attempted to identify the cause of disappear¬ 
ance of chicks before fledging. 
We returned to the nest to collect data 
characterizing the habitat near the nest once a 
nest scrape was abandoned following hatching or 
nest failure. A 2-m radius from the center of the 
scrape was surveyed within which we recorded 
the percentage of live vegetation, dead/woody 
vegetation, rock, and bare ground using 5% 
increments. 
RESULTS 
We found 35 Wilson’s Plover nests on St. 
Martin: 15 at Orient Pond. 10 at Grand Etang. five 
at Gallion Pond, three at Etang Poisson, and one 
each at Grand Case Pond and Simpson Bay 
Lagoon (Fig. 1). Nineteen chicks fledged from the 
35"nests (Table 1 1 . The mean (± SD) clutch size 
was 2.37 ± 0.597 and the mean laying date was 
13 April (range = 28 Feb-7 Jun). There were two 
one-egg clutches, 18 two-egs clutches, and 15 
three-egg clutches. The mean number of chicks/ 
