unmistakable, and the spots are both more numerous and of a duller brown 

 than those of R. virginianus. 



Nothing could be at once more interesting and more comical than the 

 appearance of a young Sora just out of the shell. He is, to begin with, a ball 

 of down as black as jet, and he has a most ridiculous tuft of orange chin whiskers. 

 Add to this a bright red protuberance at the base of the upper mandible and an 

 air of defiance, and you have a very clown. And such precocity ! I once came 

 upon a nestful in a secluded spot at the critical time. Hearing my distant foot- 

 steps, most of the brood had taken to their new-found heels, leaving two luckless 

 wights in ovo. At my approach one more prison door flew open. The absurd 

 fluff-ball rolled out, shook itself, grasped the situation, promptly tumbled over 

 the side of the nest, and started to swim across a six-foot pool to safety. 



Speaking of the protuberance at the base of the upper mandible, one cannot 

 help wondering whether this is not a reminiscence (in embryo, or as good) of 

 some ancestor who possessed a red frontal shield like that of the Florida Gallinule 

 of today. We know that the Rails and Gallinules are closely related, but has 

 this tie of relationship been noted before? 



The Kllldeer (Oxyechus vodferus) 



Length. 10 inches. Distinguished by its piercing and oft-repeated cry — 

 kildee. 



Range : Breeds throughout the United States and most of Canada ; winters 

 from central United States to South America. 



Habits and economic status : The kildeer is one of the best known of the 

 shorebird family. It often visits the farmyard and commonly nests in pastures 

 or cornfields. It is rather suspicious, however, and on being approached takes 

 flight with loud cries. It is noisy and restless, but fortunately most of its activi- 

 ties result in benefit to man. The food is of the same general nature as that of 

 the upland plover, but is more varied. The killdeer feeds upon beetles, grass- 

 hoppers, caterpillars, ants, bugs, caddis flies, dragonflies, centipedes, spiders, 

 ticks, oyster worms, earthworms, snails, crabs, and other Crustacea. Among the 

 beetles consumed are such pests as the alfalfa weevil, cotton-boll weevil, clover- 

 root weevil, clover-leaf weevil, pine weevil, billbugs, white grubs, wireworms, 

 and leaf beetles. The bird also devours cotton worms, cotton cutworms, horse- 

 flies, mosquitoes, cattle ticks and crawfish. _ One stomach contained hundreds of 

 larvae of the saltmarsh mosquito, one of the most troublesome species. The 

 kildeer preys extensively upon insects that are annoying to man and injurious to 

 his stock and crops, and this should be enough to remove it from the list of game 

 birds and insure its protection. 



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