KILDEER PLOVER. 361 



as happen to be near, such as bits of sticks, straw, pebbles, or earth. 

 In one instance, I found the nest of this bird paved with fragments of 

 clam and oyster shells, and very neatly surrounded with a mound or 

 border of the same, placed in a very close and curious manner. In 

 some cases there is no vestige whatever of a nest. The eggs are usually 

 four, of a bright rich cream, or yellowish clay color, thickly marked 

 with blotches of black. They are large for the size of the bird, measur- 

 ing more than an inch and a half in length, and a full inch in width, 

 tapering to a narrow point at the great end. 



Nothing can exceed the alarm and anxiety of these birds during the 

 breeding season. Their cries of kildeer, kildeer, as they winnow the 

 air over head, dive and course around you, or run along the ground 

 counterfeiting lameness, are shrill and incessant. The moment they 

 see a person approach, they fly or run to attack him with their harassing 

 clamor, continuing it over so wide an extent of ground, that they puzzle 

 the pursuer as to the particular spot where the nest or young are con- 

 cealed ; very much resembling, in this respect, the Lapwing of Europe. 

 During the evening, and long after dusk, particularly in moonlight, 

 their cries are frequently heard with equal violence, both in the spring 

 and fall. From this circumstance, and their flying about both after 

 dusk, and before dawn, it appears probable that they see better at such 

 times than most of their tribe. They are known to feed much on 

 worms, and many of these rise to the surface during the night. The 

 prowling of Owls may also alarm their fears for their young at those 

 hours ; but whatever may be the cause, the facts are so. 



The Kildeer is more abundant in the Southern States in winter than 

 in summer. Among the rice fields, and even around the planters' yards 

 in South Carolina, I observed them very numerous, in the months of 

 February and March. There the negro boys frequently practise the 

 barbarous mode of catching them with a line, at the extremity of which 

 is a crooked pin, with a worm on it. Their flight is something like that 

 of the Tern, but more vigorous ; and they sometimes rise to a great 

 height in the air. They are fond of wading in pools of water ; and 

 frequently bathe themselves during the summer. They usually stand 

 erect on their legs, and run or walk with the body in a stifi" horizontal 

 position ; they run with great swiftness, and are also strong and vigorous 

 in the wings. Their flesh is eaten by some, but is not in general esteem, 

 though others say, that in the fall, when they become very fat, it is 

 excellent. 



During the extreme droughts of summer, these birds resort to the 

 gravelly channel of brooks and shallow streams, where they can wade 

 about in search of aquatic insects. At the close of summer they gene- 

 rally descend to the seashore, in small flocks, seldom more than ten or 



