KILLDEER 209 



and marsh birds were abundant all around the Mill Pond, at this point they 

 kept away because of the parent killdeer. The parent was extremely belliger- 

 ent, and I watched it attack other killdeers, yellowlegs, spotted sandpipers, 

 soras, and song sparrows that happened to wander in the vicinity. All birds 

 seemed glad to leave the vicinity. 



Plwnages. — [Author's note: The most distinctive feature of tlie 

 downy young killdeer is the long, downy tail, black above and else- 

 where barred with " pinkish buff " and black, with long, hair-like, 

 buffy down below protruding beyond the rest of the tail ; the fore- 

 head, chin, throat, a ring around the neck and the under parts are 

 pure white, except for a tinge of pinkish buff in the center of the 

 forehead; a broad, black stripe above the forehead extends around 

 the crown to the occiput ; a black stripe extends from the lores, below 

 the eyes to the occiput ; there is a broad black stripe entirely around 

 the neck, below the white ; the crown, auriculars, back and inner half 

 of the wings are grizzled " vinaceous buff" and dusky; there is a 

 black space in the center of the back and a black band across the 

 wing between the grizzled inner half and the white distal, half. 



The Juvenal plumage is similar to that of the adult, but the head 

 markings are less distinct; the feathers of the nape are tipped with 

 " amber brown " and those of the back, scapulars, wing coverts and 

 tertials are more or less broadl}^ tipped or edged with the same, more 

 broadly on the scapulars and wing coverts and more narrowly on the 

 upper back and tertials ; the intermediate white band on the breast is 

 always more or less suffused with brownish. 



The postjuvenal molt is apparently very limited and the first win- 

 ter plumage is largely the juvenal plumage modified by wear. It is 

 much like the adult except for the worn and faded edgings of the 

 wing coverts, and some of the scapulars and tertials and the tail, 

 which are retained. At the first prenuptial molt, which may take 

 place from February to June, the plumage becomes practically adult. 



Adults have a complete postnuptial molt, mainly in August and 

 September, and a partial prenuptial molt of the body plumage in 

 early spring. Nuptial and winter plumages are practicaly alike.] 



Food. — The killdeer is man's friend. It consumes great quantities 

 of insect pests. The most complete study of its food by examination 

 of stomachs has been made by W. L. McAtee (1912) who sums up 

 as follows : 



" In all 97.72 per cent of the killdeer's food is composed of insects 

 and other animal matter. The bird preys upon many of the worst 

 crop pests and is a valuable economic factor." Of this large propor- 

 tion he finds that beetles constitute 37.06 per cent; other insects — 

 grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, bugs, caddis flies, dragon flies, and 

 two-winged flies, 39.54 per cent; other invertebrates-^centipedes, spi- 

 ders, ticks, oyster worms, earthworms, snails, crabs, craAvfish, and 



