90 
BIENNAL REPORT 
breeding ground is in the far north. It passes northward through Minnesota in the 
latter half of May, usually the last week, and on the return journey it may be 
met with any time from late in July to early in October. 
The following records from the Survey files will suffice to indicate its distri¬ 
bution and dates of occurrence: Hvoslef wrote in 1893 that it was then ‘com¬ 
mon around Lanesboro in the migrations” and that he had shot it theie as ea, l 
as August first (1879). Washburn saw a few individuals on the mud-flats of 
Mud Lake in eastern Marshall County, September 2, 1885, and Dart reported it 
“fairly abundant” at the same place, July 23-28, 1900. Peabody stated in 1898 
that it was “by no means uncommon in the northward movement at Heron 
Lake” and added that it was always seen singly. Minneapolis, May 5, 187, 
(Roberts) and August 25, 1892 (de la Barre). There are specimens in the museum 
of the Minnesota Agricultural College taken at New Ulm, October 1 and 4, 
1894 (Fisher). 
The Ring-neck prefers muddy flats and shores rather than the upland like 
some others of its kind. It breeds in the Arctics and winters from the southern 
United States to southern South America. It is most common along the sea coasts 
but is steadily disappearing of late years (Forbush). 
This Plover is in general appearance like a little Killdeer but has a single 
black ring around the lower neck instead of two black bands across the breast as 
in the latter species. It is but 6.75 inches in length, while the Killdeer is 10.50. 
Its notes are described as a sweetly plaintive chee-wee. 
PIPING PLOVER. Common on the Atlantic sea coast but a very iaie 
straggler in Minnesota, there being but a single record for the state. Four adult 
birds of this species were seen together on July 6, 1915, by T. S. Roberts on the 
end of the long sandbar where the Rainy River enters the Lake of the Woods. 
There was no evidence that they were breeding. Anderson, in the Birds of I ova, 
S ives several records for that state, two of which are for localities close to the 
southern boundary of Minnesota. 
The Piping Plover is pale gray or “dry sand color” above, while the Semi- 
palmated, which it otherwise closely resembles, is dark gray or “wet sand color” 
above. 
SURF-BIRDS AND TURNSTONES {Aphrizidae ). 
The only member of this small family that occurs in the eastern United States— 
the Ruddy Turnstone—is found in Minnesota as a rare, accidental wanderer fiom 
its natural home on the borders of the seas. Plover-like in general aspect, Turn¬ 
stones have rather short legs, four webbed toes and an inch-long bill that is 
straight hard and tapering to a sharp point. They frequent chiefly sandy beaches 
and bare, shelving rocky shores, and are often alone, but may be encountered in 
small flocks associated at times with other shore birds. They secure their food, 
consisting of aquatic insects, worms and small crustaceans, by adroitly turning 
over stones, bits of drift wood and stranded debris with their strong bills, from 
which habit they derive their common name. In flight they alternate rapid move¬ 
ments of the wings with short periods of gliding like the smaller sandpipers. 
RUDDY TURNSTONE; CALICO-BACK; CHICKEN PLOVER. With a 
single exception, all the definite records of this bird for Minnesota are for the 
