. The animals of New Zealand; an account of the dominion's air-breathing vertebrates . potted Plover. Charadrius dominicus. Wiuter plumage—Above, blackish browu, spotted with yellow oryellowish white. Below, yellowish white. Eye, dark brown. Length ofthe wing, inches; of the tarsus, inch. In the breeding plumage,the throat and the middle of the lower surface are black. Migratory. The spotted plover is another Siberian bird, which migratesregularly to Australia, has spread over Polynesia, and, accordingto Dr. Graffe, has become a resident at Tongatabu. In the 210 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEAL
. The animals of New Zealand; an account of the dominion's air-breathing vertebrates . potted Plover. Charadrius dominicus. Wiuter plumage—Above, blackish browu, spotted with yellow oryellowish white. Below, yellowish white. Eye, dark brown. Length ofthe wing, inches; of the tarsus, inch. In the breeding plumage,the throat and the middle of the lower surface are black. Migratory. The spotted plover is another Siberian bird, which migratesregularly to Australia, has spread over Polynesia, and, accordingto Dr. Graffe, has become a resident at Tongatabu. In the 210 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND Northern Hemisphere it takes on its snmmer plumage in Aprilsand changes into the winter plumage in August or is a common bird in New Caledonia and Fiji, and Mr. E. says that in the former island he found on April 20th^1877, a female followed by a couple of chicks a few days he also says that the old birds attain their full breedingplumage in May, which is the same time as in the NorthernHemisphere. It would seem from this that the breeding of the. Spotted Plover: breeding plumage. aieycr.) bird in the island was what might be called accidental, and, asthe birds have not been long enough to change the time ofbreeding or of moulting, it is probable that all are migrants,but that some delay moving northwards until they have attainedthe breeding plumage. Something of the same nature probably happens in Australia,as ]Mr. Gould says that the uniform black under surface, whichis the complete breeding plumage, is seldom seen there; and allthe specimens in the British INIuseum from ]\Ialay Archipelago,Australia, and Polynesia, are in the winter plumage. THE SPOTTED PLOVER 211 In New Zealand the bird is rare, having been recorded only afew times in the North Island, while for the first time in historyit made its appearance in the South Island in the summer of W. W. Smith says that he has seen a good many of thesebirds in the Ashburton River be
Size: 1711px × 1461px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectb, booksubjectzoology
