PLOVERS 



small grasshoppers and crickets after the man- 

 ner of other non-aquatic birds. The kill- 

 deer is robin size with a conspicuous black 

 band across both breast and neck, and reddish 

 brown upper tail coverts, the latter showing 

 plainly when the bird is flying, or as it alights 

 and daintily lifts its wings for a moment be- 

 fore settling down. When standing motion- 

 less, which it does for minutes at a time when 

 it discovers that it is being watched, the bird 

 is almost invisible, its variegated plumage 

 blending with its surroundings to a remark- 

 able degree. 



The song or call note of the killdeer is a 

 rapidly uttered kill-dee, kill-dee, given on the 

 wing or when standing still. It also has 

 other notes of alarm and contentment of a 

 peculiar churring quality. 



During the breeding season it is a noisy 

 bird calling or scolding incessantly as it circles 

 about over the field where its nest may be 

 located. The nest is placed indiscriminately 

 about the shores of streams and ponds or in 

 fields far from water. It is a slight depres- 

 sion in the ground lined with bits of dry 

 grass. The three or four eggs are sharply 

 pointed and heavily mottled with varying 

 shades of gray, olive-green and black to match 

 the de})ris among which they are laid. 

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