156 



THE OOLOGIST 



KILLDEER 



Having read about the Killdeer in 

 the last Oologist, I thought that per- 

 haps some of our observations this 

 year might be of interest. 



As our experience in the past had 

 been all hunting and no finding, this 

 season's developments are exceed- 

 ingly gratifying to us. In the past 

 we had confined our searches to 

 places near a pond of water, where 

 the Killdeer would make a great fuss, 

 and enact all kinds of "stage deaths," 

 and the like, but all the searching 

 proved of no avail. 



In April, 1922, when one of our 

 party was busy warming up a pick 

 and shovel in an attempt to reach the 

 nest of Western Burrowing Owl, the 

 two children made a trip along the 

 bank of a stream, about 100 yards dis- 

 tant, and upon returning across the 

 pasture lot to where the manual labor 

 was being performed, a nest of the 

 Killdeer was found, being nothing 

 more than a depression in the ground, 

 and lined with about a dozen small 

 rootlets. In this rested two eggs, 

 which were slightly incubated. This 

 was about 100 yards from any water. 

 in the open field where cattle might 

 walk over it while grazing. 



On another trip we were driving 

 along the road, which was a well 

 traveled one, and Mrs. Lee discovered 

 a Killdeer sitting out in the field in 

 an open spot, which was covered with 

 alkali, therefore bare, though sur- 

 rounded by salt grass, and upon stop- 

 ping and returning to near the spot. 

 Mrs. Killdeer walked away, and began 

 fussing about. Approaching the place 

 where she had been we found four 

 eggs. This was in an open field, which 

 was used for a cattle grazing ground, 

 and was high and dry, being about a 

 quarter mile from water. 



Then in May when we were on a 

 business trip into the plains country 



east of Tulare, we were compelled to 

 travel over a road that had been new- 

 ly graded about a month before. 



This whole country is covered with 

 wild grass and is dry, and about a 

 mile to the nearest stream. As we 

 were driving along slowly on account 

 of the roads being full of ruts, and 

 also because a Ford can go no other 

 gait, we discovered a Killdeer partly 

 standing and partly sitting along side 

 the traveled part of the road in the 

 loose dirt on the slope of the road, 

 about six feet from the wheel tracks. 

 Upon investigation, after we had 

 stopped, and the bird calmly walked 

 away, we found a rude nest and four 

 eggs, which were nearly incubated, 

 that function being completed by 

 means of an electric warming pad at 

 home. All four hatched. 



In a nearby field another nest was 

 found in the bare ground in a salt 

 grass pasture. 



After these experiences we have 

 about concluded that the best place 

 to search for Killdeer nests is not 

 near the water, but out in some near- 

 by field and on the bare ground. 



In most instances the birds have not 

 seemed wild, and in the case of the 

 one in the road, she did not leave the 

 nest until we were almost to her and 

 then did not raise any fuss, though 

 the birds could be heard in the shell. 

 Ren M. Lee, 

 Tulare, Calif. 



ARKANSAS NOTES 

 Will write a few lines for your 

 little paper, since reading H. E. 

 Wheeler's article, as I was with him 

 on the trip to Mr. Miller's. At the 

 ending of his article he writes of tak- 

 ing a set of Crested Flycatcher's from 

 rural mail box. Now, I have one bet- 

 ter. I have taken a set of n/5 Caro- 

 lina Wren from lamp shelf on organ 

 at Church house. 



