452 ^GIALITIS VOCIFERA, KILLDE^R PLOVER. 



the eggs the markings are exceedingly bold, dark and numerous; it is 

 impossible to describe adequately the endless variations in precise pat- 

 tern. The average egg is heavily marked about the butt with black- 

 ish-brown, in large irregular spots and blotches ; while similar smaller 

 spots are sparsely distributed over the rest of the surface. Sometimes 

 the markings are much lighter brown, a rich, dark sienna, and they are 

 sometimes distributed over the whole surface with approximate uniform- 

 ity, but the decided tendency is to aggregate around the butt in semi- 

 conHuent masses, or a wreath. Various labels of the collection before 

 me state that the nest is a mere depression in the ground, lined with a 

 few dried grasses or leaves. 



Some of the birds begin to work southward almost as soon as they 

 are full grown, though others linger till driven away by the cold. 



^GIALITIS YOCIFEEA, (Linn.) Bp. 



Killdeer Plover. 



Charadrius vocife'rus, Linn., Syst. Nat. i, 1766, 253 (based on Pluvialis vociferus, Gates., 

 Car. i, 71, pi. 71 ; P. virgiiiiana torquata, Briss., Orn. v, 68). — Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 

 1788, p. 685. — Lath., Ind Oiu. ii, 1790, 742. — WiLS., Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 73, pi. 

 59, f. 6.— Bp., Syn. 1828, No. 219.— ViG., Zool. Journ. sii, 448.— Sw. & Rich., F. 

 B. A. ii, 1831, 368.— NuTT., Man. ii, 1834, 22.— AuD., Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 191 ; 

 V, 1839, .577, pi. 225 ; Syn. 1839, 222 ; B. Am. v, 1842, 207, pi. 317.— Schl., Mus. 

 Pays-Bas, 1865, Cursores, 23.— Woodh., Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 96.— Newb., P. R. R. 

 Rep. vi, 1857, 97.— Putn., Pr. Ess. Inst, i, 1856, 216.— Tkippe, ibid, vi, 1871, 

 119 ; and of earlier authors generally. 



^fiialiiis vociferus, Bp., Comp. List, 1838, 45. — Cab., J, f. 0. iv, 1856, 424 (Cuba). — 

 Bd., B. N, a. 1858, 692.— SCL., P. Z. S. 1859, 393 (Oaxaca).— SCL., Ibis, i, 1859, 

 227 (Guatemala). — Bky., Pr. Bost. Soc. vii, 1859 (Bahamas). — Coop. & Suck., 

 N. H, Wash. Ter. 1860, 230.— Taylor, Ibis, 1880, 313 (Tigre Island).— Dress., 

 Ibia, 1866, 33 (Texas).- Lawr., Ann. Lye. ix, 1868, 209 (Yucatan).- Hayd., Rep. 

 1862, 173.— ScL., P. Z. S. 1864, 178 (Mexico) ; 1868, 176 (Islay).— Salv., iUd. 

 1870, 219 (Veragua).— Allen, Mem. Bost. Soc. 1868, 501 ; Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 

 1872, 181.— HoLD.-AiKEN, Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 209.— Trippe, ibid, xv, 1872. 

 240.— Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1870, 466.— Merr., ibid. 1872, 699.— CoUES, 

 Key, 1872, 244, tig. 156 ; and of most late writers. 



Oxyechus vociferus, Reich., Syst. Av. 1853, p. — . 



Charadrius torquatus, IjINN., Syst. Nat. i, 1766, 255 (based on Pluvialis dominicensis tor- 

 quata, Briss., v, 70, pi. 6, f. 2). 



Charadrius jamaicensis, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 685 (based on Sloan, 318, pi. 265, f. 3). 



Hab. — All of temperate North America, West Indies. Central and South America 

 in winter. Accidental in Europe. (See Sci^, Ibis, 1862, 275 ; Hart., Br. Birds, 1872, 134.) 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. — 4646, White River ; 5428, Yellowstone ; 6591, Cedar 

 Creek. 



Later Expeditions.— 60577-81, Camp Carling, Wyoming ; 60789, Fort Bridger ; 61645, 

 Salt Lake, Utah ; 62362, Lower Geyser Basin, Wyoming. 



Not noticed by Captain Raynolds' Expedition. 



Abundant throughout the Missouri region, as elsewhere in suitable 

 localities in North America. The Killdeer is conspicuous among the 

 few waders that breed at large through the United States, the great 

 majority of these birds passing further northward for this purpose. 

 Being, also, one of the most numerous and widely diffused, few birds are 

 more familiarly known. It must not be inferred, however, from its 

 general dispersion at various seasons that it is non-migratory. On the 

 contrary, it performs extensive journeys, reaching even to South Amer- 

 ica. I think it migrates chiefly by night. As I sit at midnight penning 

 these pages, in the town of Columbia, South Carolina, in February, I 

 continually hear their well-known piercing notes, as they pass rapidly 

 on through the darkness. 



The eggs of the Killdeer measure about an inch and a half in length 



