530 KILLDEER PLOVER. 



spring. In New England it is by no means plentiful, its line of 

 passage being more to the west ; but exceptionally it visits Maine, 

 large flocks having been observed near Portland between 28th-3oth 

 November 1888. 



The nest is usually a mere hollow in the ground, without any 

 lining beyond a few bits of dry grass, or fragments of small 

 shells arranged in the form of a ring. The eggs, 4 in number, are 

 pear-shaped, and of a creamy-white colour blotched with dark 

 purplish-brown, much resembling those of our Ringed Plover, 

 though larger in size : average measurements i*6 by I'l in. During 

 incubation the parents sit in turns upon their eggs, nor do they 

 leave them by night or day unless disturbed, in which case they are 

 very noisy and resort to the usual manoeuvres to divert the attention 

 of the intruder. The note^ — -to which the species owes its name 

 — resembles the syllables kill-dee rapidly enunciated, generally in 

 a loud clear tone, which often startles wild-fowl and renders this 

 Plover an object of dislike to the native hunter. The food consists 

 of worms, insects and small crustaceans, chiefly obtained on inland 

 pools and swamps ; the actual sea-coast being rarely frequented by 

 the bird, although it may be found on the neighbouring lagoons or 

 backwaters. 



The adult has the forehead and a streak behind the eye white ; 

 fore-crown banded with black ; lores, crown, nape and upper parts 

 umber-brown, with rufous margins to some of the long secondaries ; 

 alar bar and portions of the quills white ; rump, tail-coverts, and 

 basal portion of the long tail-feathers rufous, the subterminal por- 

 tions of the latter being barred with black and tipped with white; 

 throat and under parts white, with two black bands across the chest ; 

 bill black; legs yellowish-grey. Length 9*5 : wing 6'5 in. The 

 sexes are alike in plumage ; the young are more conspicuously 

 marked with pale rufous on the upper parts. The characteristics of 

 the Killdeer as compared with the Ringed Plover are its larger size 

 and proportionally longer tail and legs, the latter giving it a very 

 graceful appearance. 



For many of the above particulars I am indebted to that excellent 

 work ' The Water-birds of North America.' 



