Plate CCC. Adult in summer, winter, and spring.
Bill black, feet bluish-grey. In summer the upper part of head, fore
part of back, and scapulars variegated with brownish-black and bright
yellow, the latter in spots along the edges of the feathers; rump with
smaller spots, two on each feather; quills and coverts dark
greyish-brown, secondaries paler, the inner margined with
yellowish-white spots, the smaller coverts spotted with the same;
tail-feathers greyish-brown, faintly banded with paler, the two
central with marginal yellowish spots; a broad band of white across
the forehead and over the eyes, and extending along the side of the
neck; the rest of the lower parts brownish-black, excepting the lower
tail-coverts, which are chiefly white, the lateral banded or spotted
with black, and the axillary and lower wing-coverts, which are light
grey. In winter, the upper parts are blackish-brown, marked with small
yellow spots, the lower parts pale grey, passing behind into
greyish-white, the neck and breast streaked with greyish-brown. This
species, which closely resembles _Charadrius pluvialis_, is
distinguishable by having the tarsus slightly longer, the toes
somewhat shorter, and the axillar feathers always light grey, they
being white in that species, which very probably exists in North
America, although I am not at present in possession of specimens, and
cannot with certainty describe it as belonging to that country.
_Adult_, 10-1/2, 22-3/8.
Migrates southward in autumn and winter in vast flocks, from the
northern regions, resting by the way, both in the interior and along
the coast. Breeds on the Northern Barren Grounds, and islands of the
Arctic Sea.
Charadrius marmoratus, Wagler, Syst. Avium.
Golden Plover, Charadrius pluvialis, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii.
p. 71. Winter.
Charadrius pluvialis, Bonap. Syn. p. 297.
Charadrius pluvialis, Golden Plover, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor.
Amer. v. ii. p. 623.
American Golden Plover, Charadrius marmoratus, Aud. Orn. Biog.
v. v. p. 575.