PLOVER, Charadrius, a genus of birds of the family charadrieuke (q v.), having a straight compressed bill; the upper mandible alone sligbtly inflated and slightly bout at the point; the nasal groove extending about two-thirds of the length of the bill, the nos trils longitudinally cleft near the base; the legs not very lone, naked a little above the tarsal joint; no hinder toe; the wings rather long and pointed, the first quill-feather the longest. The species are numerous, and are found in every quarter of the globe; many of ihem are birds of passage. They chiefly frequent low moist grounds, where they congregate in large flocks, and feed on worms, mollusks, bisects, etc. ; but some of them visit mountainous regions in the breeding-season. They fly with great strength and rapidity, and rim with much swiftness. Tne flesh and eggs of many of them are esteemed delicacies. One of the British species is the dotterel (q.v.). Another is the GOLDEN' or PLOVER (C. plarialls), a rather larger bird, of a blackish color, speckled with yellow at the tips and edges of the feathers; the throat, breast, and belly black in summer, whitish in winter. The golden plover is a bird of passage, visiting, in summer, the northern parts of Europe, of the west of Asia, and of North America; and migrating to the south in winter. It is known in almost all parts of Europe, and is i common n many parts of Britain, breeding in the northern parts. Great numbers fre quent the sandy pastures and shores of the Hebrides and of the Orkney and Shetland islands. It makes nn artless nest, little inure than a slight depression of the ground, and lays four eggs. The parent birds show great anxiety for the protection of their young, and use various stratagems to divert the attention of an enemy. The golden plover exhibits great restlessness on the approach of wet and stormy weather, whence its specific name }ZINGED PLOVER (C. hialicula). a much smaller bird, not so large
as a song-thrush, us found at almost all seasons on the shores of the British islands, fre quenting sandy aed shingly flats, from which the sea retires at ebb-tide. It is often to he seen also on the banks of large rivers. and not infrequently of lakes and ponds. It is found in most of the nhrtheni parts of Europe and Asia, and in Iceland and Greenland. It is grayish-brown above, whitish beneath, with a collar of white round the neck, and be.ow it a black—in winter, a brown—collar; the head marked with black and white; a white bar on the wing. Very similar, but smaller, is the KENTISH PLOVER (C. eontianus); and also similar and of similar habits is the smallest of the British species, the LITTLE. RINGED PLOVER (C. minor). Both of these are rare In Britain.—North America has a number of species of plover, one of which, time AMERICAN GOLDENTLOVER (( Vityjinia cas), very closely resembles time golden plover of Europe; and another, the KILDEEn PLOVER (C. cociferus), abundant on the great western prairies, and not un frequent in time Atlantic states, utters, when approached by man, a querulous or plaintive cry, like the lapwing.—The name, plover is often extended to species of clatradriadw belonging other genera, as squatarola, in which the nasal grooves are short, the tip of the Mil is. tumid, and there is a rudimentary hind-toe. To this genus belongs the Gum( PLovEn (S. el nerea) of Britain, a species rather larger than the golden plover; and chiefly known as a winter visitant. Its geographic distribution extend; over most of the, northern parts of time world.