642 



THE KILLDEER. 



dismal fdrelxuliny. Pt.Tha])s tlic Ijird-iiian has caleii lln.)se eggs! Al an_\' rate 

 lie will rind oul it tins dreadful jJL-rson is still teniptable. He therefore titters 

 or rathers "teeters," alhn-ingly, then runs along uiincingly a little wav. when 

 he is sure he has in\- attention: then he settles to the ground with a well 

 simulated chuckle of satisfaction as tho he were silliiuj oit eyys. \\ hen I do 

 not promptly respond he begins to s(|uirni and beckon, aiitl pour out an amus- 

 ing "spiel" aliout the number and (|ualit_\- of those eggs he is covering. It is a 

 cle\-er trick, but the bird-man's character prox'cs unassailable, and the liird 

 retires in disgitst. If I didn't eat those eggs, then \\here in time are tliev? 

 Search him ! 



Evidently, however, if I was t(.) sa\e the Killdeer's nest, it must be done 

 by degrees instead of suddenly. I returned, therefore, to the island, and re- 

 moved the s(n\ with the contents from the trestle, placing it instead upon the 

 ground a little to one side. Returning again to m_\- distant stati(.)n I had the 

 satisfaction of seeing the female disco\-er her eggs and promptly claim them. 

 This must have cost no little pang of ai^prehension, for the sod was raised 

 three inches above the ground, and she became immediatelv the observed of 

 all observers. 



Once more lier ti'easures were raised b\- slipping a second sod under the 

 rirst and placing a tliird for a doorstep. This time, again, she ipiickh- mount- 

 ed, and I retired for the night witli the full assurance that the new scheme 

 was working. 



Returning on the morrow I was gratified lo lind the faithful Killdeer on 

 her nest; and the more so that the water had risen four more inches, reducing 

 the little island to half its previous dimensions. The nest 

 was again lifteij b_\- the use of an(.)lher sod. First 

 in ibis manner, anil later l>v the subsiitulion of a 



s.\\'r:u. 



FItoto by the Author. 



