BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 1 95 



Mississippi Valley route. I record, however, the statement made to me by Mr. 

 T. C. Wilson, who told me in June, 1903, that he had never seen the bird in 

 the spring until that year, but that between May 15th and 20th, 1903, he with 

 two other gunners saw several times at Ipswich a flock of about twenty Golden 

 Plover with as many Black-bellied Plover. 



As to the autumn migration, I cannot do better than quote Mackay 1 who 

 says : " Of late years it has become evident that they have no intention of stop- 

 ping on the New England coast after leaving Nova Scotia, as their course is 

 considerably outside of it (two hundred miles or more). Their presence here, 

 therefore, is purely the result of tempestuous weather." 



Putnam, 2 writing in 1856, notes the Golden Plover as "abundant." May- 

 nard 3 in the late sixties calls it "common." 



I have always found them rare even in the late seventies. Mr. T. C. 

 Wilson tells me he sees from two or three to a dozen nearly every year and, in 

 1900, he saw thirty or forty. In one of his old record books, I find that, in 

 1889, he sold 23 of these birds that he had shot at Ipswich. In 1903, I saw 

 three Golden Plover on Ipswich Beach. In 1904, three or four were killed 

 there. 



The Golden Plovers generally prefer the upper or dry part of the beach, 

 although they may rarely descend to the wet sands. They also visit the hills, 

 and more rarely the marshes. 



They differ from the Black-bellied Plover in that they bob frequently, and this 

 is a good diagnostic mark. Their call note differs, too, in being more of a roll, — 

 a chuckle as I have heard gunners express it. Mackay speaks of it as a coodle. 

 They also have a cheerful whistle. 



Their field marks and differential diagnosis from the Black-bellied Plover 

 have already been given under that bird. 



126 [273] Oxyechus vociferus (Linn.). 

 Killdeer. 



Very rare transient visitor (winter); March 13 to May 16; July 13 to 

 December 15 (winter). 



On one memorable occasion, the Killdeer occurred along the New England 



1 G. H. Mackay : Auk, vol. 8, p. iS, 1891. 



2 F. W. Putnam: Proc. Essex Inst., vol. 1, p. 216, 1856. 



3 C. J. Maynard: The Naturalist's Guide, p. 138, 1870. 



