Kllldcer (Oxycc/iKS voci ferns) 



Range: Breeds from central British Columbia, soutlicrn Mackenzie, central 

 Kcewatin. and central Quebec south to Gulf coast and central Mexico; winters 

 from California. Arizona, Texn", Indiana, New Jersey, and P>crmuda poiith to 

 Wnezuela and Peru. 



The killdccr is unquoniiiKuiiy oik- (jf tht- most widely ilistributed and oii<* of 

 the best known of the phner tribe. The bird student who makes its acquaintance 

 need not ask its name, for the birtl never tires of re])eating it at all seasons. Its 

 vociferous iteration of "kill-deer, kill-deer" brings dcjwn on its olTending head 

 the wrath of the sportsman whose cherished plans for a successful stalk of a 

 flock of duck-^ arc upset by its excited cries, rightly intcrj)ret('d l)\- the flucks as 

 signals of danger not to be neglected. 



Though the killdccr is a plover, he cares \ery little for the seacoast, nor 

 overmuch for the neighborhood of water, but finds all his wants supplied in 

 upland pastures and plowed lands. I lis bill of fare is a long and varied one, and 

 includes many pestiferous kinds of insects. As the bird's flesh is little esteemed 

 and its services are of decided value to man, no very good reason appears why 

 the species should not flourish. But though the bird is still numerous, it has been 

 exterminated in many localities. As it is now protected under the Federal law 

 we may look to see it again occupy territory from which it has been long absent. 

 There is the more reason to expect this since the killdeer responds quickly enough 

 to decent treatment, as is evidenced by the fact that a pair has nested for three 

 sucessive seasons on a golf course near Washington, D. C. Despite the fact that 

 the location of the nest was known to at least a hundred players and caddies, 

 and that the piece of "rough" in which the next was located was invaded scores 

 of times daily, the birds were successful in bringing out their young each year, 

 though plovers never had a more exciting time doing it. 



901 



