208 BULLETIN 14.6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



one of the birds dropped to the ground near the person, invariablj' on the side 

 away from the nest, and fluttered about apparently in the greatest distress. 

 The attitude most frequently assumed was as follows : one wing was held 

 extended over the back, the other beat wildly in the dust, the tail feathers were 

 spread and the bird lay flat on the ground, constantly giving a wild alarm note. 

 This performance continued until the observer came very near when the bird 

 would rise and run along the ground in a normal manner or at most with one 

 wing dragging slis'htly as long as pursuit was continued. If the observer 

 turned back toward the nest, however, these actions were immediately repeated. 

 When the parents had succeeded in luring the intruder about 100 yards, they 

 seemed satisfied as they then flew away. 



M. P. Skinner found that when he scared one bird from the nest, 

 the mate was apt to steal around behind him and take its place on the 

 nest. He says that 



In addition to their broken-wing tactics, both of the killdeer at times would 

 pretend to brood anywhere on the foundation, evidently to lead me to think 

 that that was where their nest was. * * * On one occasion I found an 

 adult with one young about four days old. The youngster ran under the old 

 one and into its feathers; then the old bird squatted down, covering it. Just 

 then I saw the other bird come running and exchange with the first parent, 

 nestling down over the youngster. 



While the broken wing tactics are used by the birds for man, dogs, 

 and other predatory animals, in order to draw them away from the 

 eggs or young, quite different tactics are used for browsing animals 

 that might step on them. Thus Howard Lacey (1911) noticed that 

 a flock of driven goats divided. " I walked up to the place expect- 

 ing to find a rattlesnake, and found instead a killdeer standing over 

 her eggs with upspread wings and scolding vigorously," Norman 

 Criddle (1908) writes " If the danger came from a cow or horse, 

 the tactics were changed and the birds with both wings and feathers 

 spread out would run into the animal's face, and so by startling it 

 drive the intruder awa}^" This habit of scaring away a browsing 

 animal probably accounts for the following experiences related by 

 M. P. Skinner. The change to the broken-wing tactics appears to 

 show great discernment and intelligence on the part of the bird. 



Twice when riding near two different unsuspected nests, the birds got up 

 with startled cries and faced me v/ith their tails spread horizontally and 

 quivering, although I v.'as on horseback and towered high above them. After 

 a few moments they made off with pretended broken wings, limping, falling 

 down and fluttering. 



Aretas A. Saunders (1926) observed a parent very zealous in the 

 care of its young : 



This brood of young was accompanied by a parent. They occupied a certain 

 section of the shore of the pond, where the young hid beneath the rushes when 

 danger approached, and ran over the mud flats at other times. The parent 

 remained near, and drove all other birds from the vicinity. While shore birds 



