THE BIRDS OF ALEXANDER WILSON-WILSON'S PLOVER (CHARADRIUS WILSONIA)

摘要

On 13 May 1813, Wilson shot an odd looking plover on the beach of Cape Island, New Jersey. It was his last trip to southern New Jersey, a much needed respite after months of intense work. Since his return to Philadelphia from his seven-month, western collecting trip in 1810, Wilson had researched, written, illustrated, edited, and produced volumes 3-7 of American Ornithology. He was preparing the illustrations and species accounts for volume 8 when he shot the plover. He and George Ord, his companion, determined that the plover was an undescribed species. They collected two males and a female. While preparing the specimens for Peale's museum, Wilson found the female's oviduct to be "greatly enlarged, and containing an egg half grown, apparently within a week of [laying]." He and Ord concluded that the species bred in the area and noted that the plover's "favorite places of resort appear to be the dry sand flats on the seashore."