466 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFORNIA 



birds are not frightened the call sounds like til-dec, or kill-dee; but 

 when startled, as by the approach of a human being, the call becomes 

 til-de-o, or til-de-de-o, and has a quavering character especially in the 

 initial syllable. After the birds have flov»^n about for some time they 

 resume the call first represented. The call is usually uttered while 

 the bird is on the wing, but may also be given from the ground. The 

 Spanish rendering of the ordinary call is tildeo. Another call, 

 although high-pitched, is not so loud and is sometimes given as the 

 bird runs along the ground in front of a person. It may be written 

 de-e-e-e-e-et. 



The Killdeer passes much of its time on the ground, and is able to 

 run with rapidity. It does not, however, maintain a continuous ad- 

 vance, but stops every few feet, for a moment of rigid pose. The 

 body is then tilted slightly forward, the head being held erect. In 

 running the head is drawn in and held low, as if to avoid display 

 of the contrasted collar markings. Sometimes individuals will run 

 about with wings upstretched, dodging among their companions and 

 uttering a rapid torrent of high-pitched notes. On the extensive 

 lawns at Stanford University as many as sixty Killdeer have been 

 counted at one time scattered about foraging silently on the grass or 

 basking beneath the spray of the many sprinklers. 



Hunters complain that the Killdeer is a great nuisance, as it often 

 flies to meet them, circling about and uttering its high-pitched com- 

 plaining cries which serve as an effective warning to other birds. At 

 all seasons Killdeer act as if they had nests, and run before the 

 intruder, apparently trying to excite pity by their melancholy notes 

 and to lure him away from an imaginary object of solicitude. They 

 visit some river bar or lake shore at night and morning to drink and 

 feed and play. Thus there may be a regular flight of Killdeer two 

 or more times a day between the fields and the water. They are greatly 

 given to traveling at night, and their unmistakable notes often reach 

 the traveler's ear on dark or foggy nights from far overhead, some- 

 times in the most unexpected localities far from Avater. 



The Killdeer nests in a variety of locations ranging from marsh 

 land to cultivated meadows and dry creek beds. One case is on record 

 of eggs being deposited in the middle of a railroad track (Chambers, 

 1901, p. 105). There are numerous records of Killdeer nesting in 

 meadows and gardens, or in furrows in newly plowed ground, the 

 latter practice in many cases resulting in the eggs being destroyed. 



Normally the species nests from the latter part of March to late 

 June. Although the breeding season thus appears to be extensive, it 

 is doubtful whether more than one brood is reared in a season by 

 any one pair of birds. There is little or no correlation between nest- 

 ing dates and latitude, as those from San Diego and Lake Tahoe are 



