AMERICAN KING PLOVER,
CHARADRIUS SEMIPALMAVm, BoNAP.
PLATE (.'OCXXX. MALE asii Vm xo.
I have had great pleasure in observing t i e migration."! of this spe*
cies, particularly.in early spring, when: great numbers enter the southern
portions of the United State«, on their way northward, whore it
is now well known to breed. At that period, whateyer ..attempts you
may make to [prevent their progress, they. always endeavour to advance
eastward ; whereas in early autumn, they, will rove in any direction,
• as if perfectly aware that, the task imposed upon them by Nature having'
been accomplished, they,,way t-.xijtiv their leisure« Those which
pass the winter within the lunitsyijjf the Union, aire lmistly found along;
the shows of South Carolina, Georgia,, the Floridas, and as far south
as the mouths of the Mississippi; there: being no doubt that many remain
on the rotots of the Gulf of: Mexico, as 1 have found some there
early in! spring, before observing those which I knew by their manners:
to be recently arrived. In ihc. coijrs.i' of uivylato visit to me-x-as,. I
found thorn on Galveston Iky, where I observed some arriving from
the westward.
During tlioir polar migration, they proceed rather swiftly, tor although
they appear to touch,at every place likely to afford them Ifiod
and repose, ihe^vsolcl.roi tarry l(|t4g^ Thus, many individuals, .which
may have been in TexAs; early in April, not unfrequeiitly reach Labrador
by the middles^ May ;; although some are a month later in reaching
the ultimate point of their journey, which, according to Or
RichabdsOn, sometimes'extends as far as: the Arctic Regions,
While with us in spring, they confine themselves to the sandy
beaches of our. sea-coasts, whether on the mainland «¡r; on islands; but
whtp they arrive at their breeding; stations, they abandon their maritime
life and resort to mountainous mossy lands, as is also the custom
with several other species. On my way to Labrador, I saw some of
them in almost every place at which we landed; and when I reached
Nastasguan Bay, they were breeding in all the spot« that were, adapted
for that purpose. Their manners formed an < agreeable subject of
AMERICAN RING PLOVER. 257
observation to ali Die members of my party. As soon as one of us was
noticed by a Ring Plover, it would at once stand still and become silent
If we did the j#M, it continued, and Seldom failed to wear oat
our patience., If we advanced, it would lower itself and squat on the
mo^orbaro root until approached, when it would suddenly rise on its
feet, droop its ^ings„ depress its head, and run with great speed to a
considerable distance. Jittering: all die while a low rolling and querulous
cry? very pleasing to the ear. On being-surprised when I in charge of
their young, They would open their wit«? to the full extent, and beat
the pound with their Si!Wf#lM as-fil'-unablc-toirise. If pursued,
they allowed us to come within a few feet, then took flight, and at- •
tomptod to decoy us away from their, young, which lay so (doso that we
very seldom discovered them.^but which*. on being traced,, ran swiftly
off, uttering: a plaintive peep often repeated, that never failed to bring,
their parents to their aid. At Labrador, the. Ring-Plover begins to
breed-ini-tìie.begiimingrfa'iin».!'" On the 2d of J'U%.I procured several
young birds apparently about a week old ; they ran briskly to avoid
us,,and concealed themselves so closely by squatting-,, that it was- very
difficult to discover them even whoa only a few feet distant.
This species, like the Piping Plover, Ckaradrius mtfodm, tonus no
rigidi and whilst the latter scoops a place;in the. sand for its: eggs, the
Ring Plover forms a similar cavity in the moss, in a place sheltered
fremito north winds, and exposed to the full rays' of the sun. usually
near the margins of small ponds,formed by i.hg, melting of the snow,
and surrounded bv.short grass. Some of these pools « 0 found on the
tops of.,the 'highest rocks, of .that country.. The eggs*. lise, those of all
the. family, are four, and placed with the small ends together. They
are:broad at the larger end, rather sharp at.the other., measure inch
in.'let:gih, :7S inches in .their ^«»Ml breadth, are.,of a dull .yellowish
colour, irregularly blotched and spotted all over with dark brown of
different tin%| Thè young wo at first of a yellowish-grey colour, prettily
marked with darker spots on the shoulders, and rump. As soon as
their, parents dismissed them, they wej-e observed searching for food
among the drying cod-fish, and along the beaches.
Ey the 12th of August, all the individuals, which had hred in Labrador
and. Newfoundland, had taken their departure, migrating southward
in company with the phalaropes; and Schintz's Sandpipers.,
Many of -these birds proceed by our great lakes and rivers, they being
vol.. IV. 11