232 
ZOOLOGY. 
months of April and October. It associates with the small sandpipers along the shores of the 
bays and estuaries, and though apparently feeding on the same food, it picks it up on the 
surface of the ground instead of probing in the mud or sand.—C. 
SQUATAROLA HELVETICA, (Linn.) Cuv. 
Swiss Plo-verj Black-bellied Plover. 
Tringa helvetica, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 250. 
Squatarola helvetica , Cuv. E. A. 1817. —Baird & Cassin, Gen. Bep. Birds, 697. 
Charadrius helveticus, Licht. Verz. 1827, No. 728.— Aud. Om. Biog. IY, 1838, 280 ; pi. 324.— Ib. Syn. 421.— Ib. 
Birds Amer. Y, 1842,199 ; pi. 315. 
Tringa squatarola, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 252. 
Charadrius apricarius, Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, 1813, 41. 
Figures. —Buffon, PI. Enl. 853, 854, 923.—Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, pi. 57, fig. 4.—Aud. B. of Am. pi. 334; oct. ed. Y, 
pi. 315.—Naumann, B. of Germany, pi. 178.—Gould, B. of Eur IV, pi. 290. 
Sp Ch.—B ill and legs strong ; wings long ; a very small rudimentary hind toe. Around the base of the bill to the eyes, 
neck before and under parts of body, black; upper white, nearly pure and unspotted on the forehead ; sides of the neck 
and rump tinged with ashy, and having irregular transverse bars of brownish black on the back, scapulars, and wing coverts; 
the brownish black frequently predominating on those parts, and the rump also frequently with transverse bars of the same. 
Lower part of the abdomen, tibia, and under tail coverts, white. Quills brownish black, lighter on their inner webs, with a 
middle portion of their shafts white, and a narrow longitudinal stripe of white frequently on the shorter primaries and 
secondaries. Tail white, with transverse imperfect narrow bands of black. Bill and legs black. The black color of the 
under parts generally with a bronzed or coppery lustre, and presenting a scale-like appearance ; the brownish black of the upper 
parts with a greenish lustre. Younger and winter plumage. —Entire upper parts dark brown, with circular and irregular small 
spots of white, and frequently of yellow, most numerous on the wing coverts ; upper tail covert white. Under parts white, 
with short longitudinal lines and spots dark brownish cinereous on the neck and breast; quills brownish black, with large 
longitudinal spots of white on their inner webs, and also on the outer webs of the shorter primaries. Young. —Upper parts 
lighter, and with the white spots more irregular or scarcely assuming a circular shape ; narrow lines on the neck and breast 
more numerous. Length, 11. 50 to 12 .50 ; extent, 24. 25 to 25. 00 ; wing, 7. 25 to 9. 75 ; tail, 3 inches. Iris brown, bill 
black ; feet lead color. 
Hah .—All of North America. The sea-coasts of nearly all countries of the world. 
The black-bellied or Swiss plover I found moderately abundant in Minnesota, and also sparingly 
on the sand spits and beaches along the Straits of Euca, in Washington Territory. In the 
latter vicinity I obtained several specimens in the early part of March, 1856. 
Owing to the general mildness of the winters in the last-mentioned locality, a few generally 
remain throughout the season, where, in company with the turnstone and the active little three¬ 
toed sandpiper, they may, any fine day during the colder months, be found industriously seeking 
their favorite food at the edges of the retiring waves. In the spring and fall they are quite 
common in the San Francisco markets.—S. 
The Swiss plover seems to be a resident bird in small numbers, as I shot young birds in July 
near the mouth of the Columbia river, together with the young of several other species of shore 
birds. During the coldest winter weather I also observed them in greater numbers, but never 
in flocks of more than a dozen.—C. 
