A Manual of Philippine Birds. Richard C. McGregor
Subfamily CHARADRIINÆ.
Bill moderate, not longer than head, culmen flat and straight from base to the terminal swollen dertrum; first primary slightly the longest; tarsus covered on all sides with small hexagonal scales; toes webbed at base; hind toe minute or absent.
Genera.
a1. Larger; wing more than 165 mm.; upper parts much spotted.b1. A minute hind toe; axillars sooty black. Squatarola (p. 103)b2. No hind toe; axillars gray or white. Charadrius (p. 104)
a2. Smaller; wing less than 165 mm.; upper parts nearly uniform gray or brown.b1. Larger; wing, 140 to 165 mm.; bill stouter. Ochthodromus (p. 105)b2. Smaller; wing, 100 to 115 mm.; bill more slender. Ægialitis (p. 109)
Genus SQUATAROLA Leach, 1816.
This genus is similar to Charadrius but differs in having a minute hind toe; the character is scarcely of generic value.
90. SQUATAROLA SQUATAROLA (Linnæus).
GRAY PLOVER.
Tringa squatarola Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 149.
Squatarola helvetica Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 182; Hand-List (1899), 1, 152; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1902), 2, 17; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 22.
Bantayan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Cuyo (Meyer); Luzon (Sanches); Mindanao (Everett); Negros (Layard); Palawan (Whitehead); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino). Subarctic regions, south in winter to Australia, Cape of Good Hope, and South America.
“Adult male in breeding plumage.—Above mottled with bars of black and ashy white, the feathers being black, notched with white and broadly tipped with the latter; scapulars and wing-coverts like back, the greater series edged externally with white, inner ones distinctly notched with white; alula and primary-coverts black, the former slightly, the latter more plainly, tipped with white; quills black, the shaft white about the middle; first two primaries white for the greater portion of the inner web, decreasing in extent on the succeeding quills, which also have the median portion of the shaft white, but after the fourth this white shaft accompanied by an increasing amount of white on outer web; secondaries brown, with white edges and tips, bases of inner webs also white; innermost secondaries resembling the back, and notched with ashy brown and blackish; lower back and rump dusky brown, with white spots and fringes to the feathers; upper tail-coverts and tail white, barred with black or blackish brown, the bars decreasing toward the outer feathers, where they are broken up into spots on the outer web; crown like the back, but more minutely mottled and more hoary white; forehead and a broad eyebrow white, extending down sides of neck, and forming a large patch on sides of upper breast; lores, sides of face, ear-coverts, and under surface black, excepting abdomen and under tail-coverts, which are pure white; thighs white, streaked with black; under wing-coverts white; axillars black, with slightly indicated fringes of brown at tips; quills below dusky, with white on inner webs; lower primary-coverts pale ashy. ‘Bill, legs, feet, and claws black; iris dark hazel.’ (Seebohm.) Length, 267; culmen, 33; wing, 206; tail, 74; tarsus, 46.
“Adult female in breeding plumage.—Above, not so strongly mottled with black as the male, and consequently rather browner, especially on the head; black of face and under parts not so much developed, these parts being mottled with irregular black markings. Length, 279; culmen, 33; wing, 203; tail, 74; tarsus, 46.
“Adult in winter plumage.—Differs from the summer plumage chiefly in wanting the black on face and breast, but, from the absence of black mottling on the back, the whole upper surface appears more uniform, being ashy brown with narrow whitish edgings to the feathers, before which is a blackish subterminal shade; lores white, but base of forehead like crown; a line of white above and below eye, but the white eyebrow scarcely visible above the ear-coverts, which are dingy blackish; sides of face white, streaked with dusky; throat and under parts pure white, lower throat and fore neck pale ashy brown, slightly mottled with dusky markings; under wing-coverts white, except the lower primary-coverts, which are dusky ashy; axillars black.
“Young.—Like the winter plumage of the adults, and always to be distinguished from the golden plover by the black axillars, though it is spangled with golden buff on the upper surface, as is the latter species.” (Sharpe.)
The gray plover, known as the black-bellied plover in the United States, is found along the seashore in small numbers during the winter months. As seen in the Philippines it is usually in the gray plumage but as with its very near relative, the golden plover, individuals having the breast mottled with black are not uncommon.
Genus CHARADRIUS Linnæus, 1758.
This genus differs from Squatarola in being smaller and in lacking the hind-toe.
91. CHARADRIUS FULVUS Gmelin.
PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER.
Charadrius fulvus Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, 167; Oates, Bds. Brit. Burmah (1883), 2, 364; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 22.
Charadrius dominicus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 195 (part); Hand-List (1899), 1, 152 (part); Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1902), 2, 18 (part).
Ca-sa-huit′, Calayan; ma-tang-vá-ca, Manila.
Balabac (Steere, Steere Exp.); Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (Everett, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Fuga (McGregor); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Cuming, Meyer, Everett, Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Mindanao (Murray, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Mindoro (McGregor); Negros (Layard, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Keay); Palawan (Platen, Whitehead, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Mearns); Ticao (McGregor). Northern Asia and Alaskan coasts of Bering Sea, south in winter to Australia and Polynesia.
“Male and female in summer.—Forehead white, continued back over each eye as a broad supercilium and extending down the sides of neck; whole upper plumage black, each feather with large marginal yellow spots on both webs, the spots on the wing-coverts tending to white; primary-coverts and the greater series brown, tipped and margined with white; primaries brown, the central portion of the shaft whitish; secondaries brown tipped with whitish; tail blackish, irregularly barred with white; chin, throat, fore neck, breast, and abdomen black; vent and flanks black mottled with white; under tail-coverts white; axillars smoky brown with white tips.
“Male and female in winter.—Upper plumage black, the feathers margined with yellow; wing-coverts margined with dull white; quills and tail much as in summer; forehead and sides of head fulvous, the latter part streaked with brown; chin and upper throat fulvous-white; lower throat, fore neck, and feathers under cheeks and ear-coverts rather bright fulvous with minute streaks of brown; breast grayish, the feathers broadly margined with fulvous; remainder of lower plumage pale