256 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



KiLLDEER. Oxyechus vociferus 

 10.50 



Ad. — Head and back brown ; ring entirely around neck white, 

 edged on the hind neck with black ; forehead, stripe over eye, 

 throat, and lower parts white ; two black bands across breast, the 

 lower one narrow ; rmnp and base of tail cinnamon. 



Nest, on ground. Eggs, buffy-white, with chocolate markings, 

 chiefly at the larger end. 



The Killdeer is a rare summer resident in southeastern 

 Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and a rare spring and 



fall migrant along 

 the coast. It occa- 

 sionally appears in 

 western Massachu- 

 setts, and on Long 

 Island has been re- 

 corded in every 

 month but January. 

 In the breeding sea- 

 son it is noisy and 

 restless, continually 

 uttering the com- 

 plaining hill-dee, 

 from Avhich it gets 

 its name, and occa- 

 sionally a rolling 

 whistle a little like that of the Upland Plover. Like most 

 of the plovers, it bobs constantly. It may be readily distin- 

 guished from the smaller Ring-necks by the tivo bands of 

 black and by the cinnamon rump and base of tail, which 

 are conspicuous in flight. 



The Killdeer's wings are long and narrow, and its flight 

 graceful and vigorous, suggesting somewhat that of the 

 Sparrow-Hawk. 



Fig. 76. Killdeer 



