(AEgialitis wilsonia)
While the Wilson plover is found to some extent on the southern
Atlantic Coast, it may properly be said to be a Pacific species. Here
it is seen on the beaches in large numbers, just beyond the reach of
the surf, picking the insects and minute shellfish as they are washed
on the sand, or flying in flocks just above the breakers.
=Color=--Forehead and stripe over the eye, white; black stripe in
front of crown; top of head and stripe from the eye to the bill,
black; black band just below the throat; back, gray; under parts,
white; bill black, and legs and feet, light pink.
=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a mere depression in the ground, with
three to four eggs of a pale olive, spotted with dark brown.
=Measurements=--Total length, 7 to 8 inches; wing, 4 to 5; bill, about
3/4 of an inch. Three toes with a small
[Note: Unfinished sentence in original printed version.]
There are a number of other plovers on the hunting grounds of the
Pacific Coast, but they are either too small or the flesh too poor to
interest the sportsman. Of these the killdeer plover is the most
common and the best known. A description of these would be of no
interest to the sportsman and therefore add nothing to the purposes of
this work.
[Illustration: AMERICAN AVOCET (Recurvirostra americana)]