KILLDEER 465 



as there are very few winter records, but it arrives there early in the 

 spring. From the latitude of San Francisco southward it is a perman- 

 ent resident in most localities. In summer it ranges up in the Sierras 

 to as high as Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, altitude 

 8,600 feet, on the west slope, and to Lake Tahoe, 6,000 feet, and to 

 the head of Owens River. 8,000 feet, on the east slope. In southern 

 California it has been found at Bear Lake, San Bernardino Moun- 

 tains, at an altitude of nearly 7,000 feet. East of the Sierras it is 

 chiefly a summer visitant. Numerous records establish it as a breed- 

 ing species througliout its summer range. 



The Killdeer is a bird of fresh and brackish water rather than of 

 the salt marsh or seaeoast ; yet occasionally it resorts to both of the 

 latter types of country. No hard and fast rule for its occurrence can 

 be laid down, save that it much prefers fresh water, especially such 

 as is provided along the shores of inland ponds or streams. Even the 

 scanty seepage water in the 

 bed of an otherwise dry 

 arroyo v.ill satisfy the needs 

 of one or more pairs of 

 these birds. While not of 

 solitary habit, the Killdeer 

 is not a typical flocking Fig. 77. Side of tarsus and foot of Kill- 

 bird. When flocks do OC- *1<^^^- Natural size. 



cur, they rarely number Note absence of hind toe, as with all our 



,/ , " , ,1 • , Plovers except the Black-bellied (compare 



more than about thirty with figs. 69 and 76). 



members, and their actions 



are individual rather than aggregate. In this respect they differ 

 from some sandpipers, because each member pursues a separate course 

 when foraging, in flight, or when danger threatens. Small groups 

 of half a dozen individuals are of most common occurrence. Of 

 course, the breeding season finds the birds in pairs, and more or less 

 sequestered. In the East, and to some extent in California, the Kill- 

 deer scatters out over cultivated fields and searches for insects or 

 worms. The alfalfa raising districts, of increasing extent in Cali- 

 fornia, evidently offer to this bird the best of forage facilities. 



Of all the shore birds the Killdeer is the easiest to identify. A 

 front view while it is at rest on the ground reveals four transverse 

 black bands, two on the head and two on the breast ; a side view shows 

 a distinct wdiite collar set off by adjacent black. In flight the chief color 

 markings are the white streak across each wing, the black-banded, 

 white-tipped tail, the tawny rump patch, and the pure white under 

 surface. The oft-repeated call, which is uttered in an insistent, com- 

 plaining tone, is by far the best distinguishing character, and when 

 once learned obviates the necessity of using other clues. When the 



