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Plovers
Resembling the snipe in structure, plovers may be distinguished by their moderate or small size, averaging that of the thrush, by their short bills (not longer and generally shorter than the head), which are shaped somewhat like a pigeon's; by their three toes-not an infallible guide, however, since our black-breasted species and two others have four toes;--in having rounded scales on the tarsi; by their plump bodies, short, thick necks, long wings, reaching to the tip of the tail or beyond, and, in some instances, by spurs on the wings. In habits, too, there is a similarity to the preceding group; but the plovers pick their food, which is largely of an animal nature, from the surface of the ground, instead of probing for it, as their shorter bills indicate. They also more frequently visit dry fields and uplands. Rapid runners and fliers, mellow whistlers, gregarious, except at the nesting season, and not shy, plovers are among the best known of our common birds.
