PLOVERS 



261 



ponds, streams, or the ocean. It seems to be 

 especially fond of freshly plowed fields, where 

 it feeds voraciously upon worms, grubs, and bugs 

 of various kinds. On the ground it runs about 

 rapidly and in a somewhat nervous manner, fre- 

 quently uttering its somewhat petulant cry, 

 which, under these conditions, is sometimes 

 abbreviated to the last syllable, dec. 



The Killdeer is especially solicitous about its 

 eggs or young. When the incubating bird is 

 flushed from her nest, she resorts to ;dl of the 

 tactics of the ground-building birds, fluttering 

 away with one or both wings dragging as if 

 broken, sometimes almost rolling over, often 

 stopping to gasp and [lant as if totally exhausted, 

 and keeping up meanwhile an incessant scream- 

 ing. In the meantime the male bird circles 

 around at a safe distance, adding his protests and 

 denunciation, and the two continue the uproar 

 until the intruder has withdrawn. 



On the wing the bird is swift, graceful and 

 somewhat erratic, for which reason it has been 

 much pursued as " game " by amateur gunners 

 and others who should have known better. This 

 " sport ■' is forbidden by the Federal Migratory 

 Bird Law, which prohibits the hunting of these 

 birds until igiS. The bird should, indeed, be 

 protected at all times, not only because the shoot- 

 ing of it is killing for the mere sake of killing, 

 since its flesh is not edible, but because it makes 

 itself exceedingly useful by destroying great 

 quantities of noxious insects. 



There can be no doubt as to the economic value 

 of the Killdeer's feeding habits, for its regular 



diet is known to include mosquitoes, the fever 

 tick, which spreads the dreaded Texas fever 

 among cattle; crane flies ("leather-jackets"), 

 which are destructi\e to wheat and grass; grass- 

 hoppers, the clover-root curculio, various weevils 

 which attack cotton, grapes and sugar beets; bill- 



Fhoto by H. T. MidJktuu 



EGGS OF KILLDEER 

 Laid in a depression of the ground 



bugs which often do much damage to corn ; wire- 

 worms and their adult forms, the click beetles ; 

 the southern cornleaf beetle ; horse flies ; craw- 

 fishes ; the diving beetles which are injurious 

 in fish hatcheries ; and the marine worms 

 which jirey upon oysters. 



George Gl.^dden. 



SEMIPALMATED PLOVER 



.ffigialitis semipalmata (Botiapartc 



A. O U. .Xuniber 274 See Color Plate 39 



Other Names. — Scmipalmated RiiiR Plover; Ring- 

 necked Plover ; Riii.£c-neck ; Ring Plover ; Red-eye ; 

 Beach-bird. 



General Description. — Lengtli. 7 inches. Upper 

 part.s color of wet .sand ; lower parts white ; onr black 

 ring around neck. Bill short; outer and middle toes 

 webbed to the second joint; hind toe missing. 



Color. — Adults: A narrow black bar e.xtending 

 from eye over top of bill to other eye with the white 

 space above it, and this in turn bordered by another 

 black stripe reaching from eye to eye across front of 

 crown ; below eye fnarrowly) and behind it a dusky 

 strijje; a white bar around back of neck continuous with 

 white of chin and lower sides of head; below this, a 



broader bar of dusky encircling neck and upj^er breast; 

 crozcii and ufper parts, dark broicnish-i/ray: tail, like 

 Iiack darkening toward end, white-tipped ; primaries, 

 dusky; narrow, white spaces at base; secondaries, 

 largely white except long inner ones which are like the 

 back; greater coverts, white tipped; entire under parts, 

 white; bill, yellow, with black tip; feet, pale flesh color; 

 eye-ring, bright orange; iris, hazel. Young: Black of 

 adults replaced by brownish-gray ; feathers of upper 

 parts with bulTy cdgin.gs. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : A mere depression in the 

 ground, lined with leaves or grass. Ecgs : 4. bufify to 

 olive-bufF, spotted and blotched with dark brown and 

 black. 



