Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-04-14
rhEpREslDENr,s O onDnNp nornn
1t Arouses an Interesting Ornith illogical
Discussion Among Wilmington Gunners

Discussion Among Wilmington Gunners
| Since the appearance last week in EVERY
EvENINa Of the story of President Harri
sons trip down the Peninsula to SHOOT
| golden ployer, whom it was also said that
these BIRDS are known nowhere else in the
country, q great deal of comment has
| arisen Ill Wilmington, especially amone
| sportsmen, as to the truth of the assertion
that golden ployer are not to be found
| anywhere else in the United States.
Many OF Delaware's leading bird men &c
annually out of the State for their spring
season cunning, and some of the Whining
ton sportsmen claim they have seen plenty
OF plover out west and north--in Iowa
Illinois, Tennessee and Missouri, &C., and
they think they know a point or two more
than the man who so venttresomely as
serted that golden piover are found only
| in this corner Of the country
The question has already aroused .
| great deal of pathological talk and solnt
| very interesting discussion has been made
about the various kinds of plover.
In all the contrasted opinion that has
neen rte IN the last day or two, and OF
the pros and cons as to the different species
of plover, one fact has developed so far,
clear and definite, and il is that the golden
ployer IS very common bird in the
United States and also in all the temperate
regions of the world.
The only question to be set at rest now
is which IS the commoner of the two
species the golden plover or the gray
ploycr.
One of the best.known bird shots of
Delaware, n gentleman who from his
earliest days, has given great deal of his
time each season to cunning, spoke to the
reporter on the subject. The result of his
remarks is summed UP as follows:
There are two species Of ployer known
In TINS region, the upland or grass plover
and the golden or bul-head.
The upland ,plover has long legs and
neck. II stands erect and has the strut OF
q, miniature turkey. The golden plover has
shorter legs and neck. II is of a chunky,
more clumsy build than the upland. is
more thick-set and for that reason has the
name of bull-head. II is called golden
plover from the ycllowish tinge on breast
and back The upland is of q more ashen
gray hue.
The golden rlover is grcgarious, flying
about III large flocks, and commonly fire.
qucnts plowcd fields. On the contrary the
upland plover is more often alone and
feeds usually in green fields. The cry of
The upland or grass plover is O clear dis
tinctt whistle, while the other has a lower,
subdued note.
AS stated the upland plover is simmer
bird. II has longer legs and wings. and
".iSh "ini iiicu u longer getting TO Its
wings. The golden or bull-head springs
Immediately into flight and is, therefore,
easier to shoot. The upland plover often
runs along the ground for many yards and
then rises with an awkward tapping and
stretch of wing. The golden plover Is not
so wary as its cousin and falls an easier
prey to the gunner.
The gentleman referred informed the
writer that he has shot hundreds of golden
nlnvnr InxUn and 4.
of what he has seen here.
:, The golden plover is found all over the
United States and Canada, from the Arctic
zone to the Gulf Of Mexico and from Maine
to California. Comprehensive speaking
It's habitat is the whole temperate zone and
the sub-arctic
Captain Bogardus, the champion pigeon
shot, used to practice on golden ployer. He
found them SO plentiful on the Illinois
prairies that he would kill hundreds in a
single day. He says they are the best prac-
tlce for anyone aspiring to make a good
pigeon shot of himself.
The assertion that golden plover are re-
stricted to this Peninsula is simply silly.
The scientific fact is that the birds are
migratory. passing each season from the
Arctic circle where every explorer has seen
them IN myriads to the warmer regions in
the winter.
In regard to the killdecr, the Encyclopaedia
,B'1tdnnicd says: "a common and we'll
known American plover, so called in ilni-
tatdon OF its whistling cry, the Charadrius
vociterus of Linneus, and the dSgialitis
vocifera, Of modern ornithologists. About
the size OF snipe, it is mostly sooty brown
above, but showing bright buff on the
tan coverts and in flight bright bar on
the wings beneath it is pure white, except
Two pectoral bands of deep black. It is
one of the finest as well as the largest of
the group commonly known as ringed
ployers or ring doterels, formingthe genus
OF l3oie. Mostly wintering in the south or
only on the sea-shore of the more north
ern states i'll spring it spreads widely over
the interior. 1t is found more abundantly
in the northeast than further south or
west.
IN addition to the above, in order that
other authorities may be known, the fol-
lowing references are quoted in regard to
the two species specially under discussion
the golden and the gray plover:
The Ehcycopddid britannica says the
golden plover has a much narrower dis
trlDut,on than the gray upland or grass,
though where 1t occurs it is much more
numerous as species. In autumn it is
seen IN immense flocks lover the cultivated
districts, if the fields be sufficiently omen.
1t migrates from Iceland to the Medter-
ranean, sometimes to the shores of Africa.
Chambers Encyclopaedia says the golden
plover Is a bird of passage, visiting in
summer the northern parts of Europe, the
west of Asia, and North America, and mi
grating to the south in winter. The
American golden plover very closely re-
sembles the golden plover of Europe.
The gray plover, Seuatarola cinerea
Gash-coloredD of America, is species rather
larger than the golden plover and is chiefly
snown as winter vsitant. Its geographic
extends over most OF the
northern parts Of the world.
lpebsfe1's International Dictionafy speaks
in addition to the golden plover of the fol
lowing; Charadrius Squatarola, the black
bellied plover, called also gray plover,
bull-head Plover, Bartrama longicauda
dong necked), the American upland or
held ployer.