360 BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



formed by Dr. Brewer, that Wilson's plover was abundant at 

 Nahant in August of the last year. It was probably some ir- 

 regular movement, which would not be repeated every year, 

 since it is hardly to be supposed that the bird should be often 

 in our limits, and yet escape the eye of so many accurate ob- 

 servers. 



The KiLDEER Plover, Charadrius vociferus, is a common 

 bird, which spends the winter at the south, but returns early 

 in the spring, leaving the coast and spreading over the inland 

 country, where it is found in open fields, and on the banks of 

 streams, and known by the name of kill-dee. It seems to have 

 great sagacity in suspecting danger. In the presence of hor- 

 ses, cows and sheep, it is perfectly indifferent ; but if a man or 

 dog appears, it betrays extreme uneasiness and distrust. When 

 they move in small flocks, they appoint one as sentinel, who 

 stands on tiptoe, watching all the objects around ; when any- 

 thing appears, in the least suspicious, it sounds the alarm, and 

 the place is at once deserted. 



The kildeer plover makes its nest on the ground of a field, 

 or the sand of the downs, sometimes lining it with grass, at 

 others laying the eggs on the naked earth ; they are four in 

 number, of a cream color, blotched with black ; the young run 

 about as soon as they are hatched, and the parents are kept in 

 perpetual agitation by fears for their safety. 



The food of the kildeer consists of grasshoppers, crickets, 

 snails and earth worms. They often strike their bill into the 

 ground, in search of their prey. In the meadow, they pat the 

 ground, to force out the worms, and sometimes follow the 

 ploughman, to seize those which he has turned out from the 

 ground. They have a peculiar motion of the body, when 

 about to pick up their food, in order to bring their bills to the 

 earth to reach their prey. The flesh of this plover is often 

 eaten in the fall, but at other seasons it is poor and ill flavored ; 

 indeed, there is hardly any time when it is worth the trouble 

 of shooting. 



