KILLDEEE 211 



M. P. Skinner writes : " When they get out on bare ground their 

 speed is really astonishing. I have had them run along the road 

 ahead of my horse for quite a distance." In plover fashion and 

 unlike sandpipers, the killdeer in feeding does not keep in a com- 

 pact flock but spreads out irregularly. John F. Ferry (1908) writes: 

 "A curious sight was that of numbers of these birds scattered about 

 the lawns at Leland Stanford University while the sprinklers were 

 in operation. This recalled the robins on the lawns of the Eastern 

 States." 



Sometimes a number fairly close together may be found crouching 

 on the sand or gravel asleep, or they may sleep standing, often on 

 one foot. One or more are awake, however, watching, all from time 

 to time open their eyes and look about. Notwithstanding their strik- 

 ing coloration, one may walk almost to a flock under these circum- 

 stances without noticing them. The " ruptive " marks about the head 

 and neck break the continuity of the surface and the bird is not 

 recognized as such. 



The flight of the killdeer is rapid, generally close to the ground 

 when the bird is on the lookout for food, but at other times,, espe- 

 cially in courtship, as- stated above, the flight may be at a great 

 height. They usually fly about singly in a wavering and erratic 

 manner, but sometimes in considerable flocks. Widely scattered birds 

 when startled usually unite into a compact flock and fly away 

 together. W. L. Dawson (1923) says: "I have seen flocks of 50 

 killdeers bunch closely and turn in silence and disappear in perfect 

 order." 



Whenever the killdeer is unmolested, as is the case now under 

 protection, it becomes very tame, as is shown above in the account of 

 the birds at Stanford University. N. S. Goss (1891) writes: 



" In Coatapec, Mexico, a pair came daily to feed and dress up their 

 feathers beside a little run or gutter in the center of the narrow paved 

 street opposite my room in the hotel, regardless of the people on the 

 sidewalks, onl}^ running or ^otlging to avoid a person crossing or to 

 keep out of the way of a pack of mules, etc." 



\/'oice. — The killdeer is at times the noisiest of birds and is hated 

 by the gunner, for its alarm cries disturb every bird within a long 

 range. The "song" has been described under courtship. F. M. 

 Chapman (1912) well characterizes some of its cries as "half -plain- 

 tive, half -petulant." Kill-dee Mil-dee is the common cry from which 

 it takes its name, for it omits the r at the end. But it has a great 

 variety of other cries with which it rends the air, and I find in my 

 notes the following : hee-Jcee; eet-eet-eet; kee-ah, hee-ali; dee-dee-dee ; 

 tsee-he, tsee-he; tso-he, tso-lie; ker^ ker, ker^ and piercing tee-ars. 

 It is, of course difficult to express these cries properly on paper, and 

 a great variety of syllables have been recorded by different writers. 



