214 



THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



Killdeer. 



The genuine, or literally " upland," plover is the 

 familiar " Killdeer." It is migratory, but it makes a 

 long stay with us in the Middle States. It some- 

 times comes by the middle of February, and is said 



to be always fol- 

 lowed by the snipe. 

 Not always imme- 

 diately followed, 

 however. We first 

 find the killdeer 

 along the river, 

 and if the ground, 

 upland, is frozen, 

 they will remain 

 there ; but very 

 soon they come to 



their old haunts in the dry fields, and add a great 

 deal of life to what is apt to be a rather commonplace 

 locality. They find in time a safe spot, as they think, 

 to lay their eggs, and then are all anxiety for fear 

 some one will step on them. If you come near they 

 make a great ado and imitate lameness to perfection, 

 but you cannot pick them up, for all that. 

 Wilson says, 



" Nothing can exceed the alarm and anxiety of these birds during 

 the breeding season. Their cries of killdeer, killdeer, as they winnow 

 the air overhead, dive and course around you, or run along the 

 ground counterfeiting lameness, are shrill and incessant. The mo- 

 ment they see a person approach they fly or run to attack him with 

 their harassing clamor, continuing it over so wide an extent of 

 ground that they puzzle the pursuer as to the particular spot where 

 the nest or young are concealed, very much resembling in this re- 

 spect the Lapwing of Europe. During the evening and long after 



