100 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



come on, these birds are often seen running up and down 

 the rows of cabbage and lettuce, picking off the worms. 

 They are jolly little fellows, always chuckling to them- 

 selves, especially when they find a worm. 



They usually live and feed in small flocks, and there is 

 always a sentry or two on guard while the others feed. 

 When disturbed this sentry warns his fellows by a sharp, 

 piercing cry and then flies to safety. 



Every season for at least ten years I have found one 

 or more killdeer's nests in the garden. I was especially 

 amused with one killdeer's nest I found about the tenth of 

 last June. She had wallowed a little hole in the gravel on 

 a side hill in a field of newly set strawberries. I was 

 looking over this field in company with a friend, when to 

 my amusement a killdeer ran up almost to our very feet 

 and fell over and begun to flutter as if she had heart fail- 

 ure and was in her death throes. I was far too wise in 

 bird lore to allow her to fool me into trying to catch her 

 or into following her, and this seemed to worry her a great 

 deal. Over and over she would flutter away fifteen or twenty 

 feet, making it very plain that she was in the greatest 

 pain, that one wing was broken and that the leg on the 

 other side couldn't be used at all. She would struggle 

 over the ground with one wing and one leg dragging, utter- 

 ing the most pitiful cries of pain and distress, but when 

 we refused to follow, she always managed to be able to 

 fly back and fall almost at our feet again. I had not seen 

 the nest as yet, and but for her antics doubtless we never 

 would have seen or known that it was there ; but by circling 

 about a bit and watching her actions it was easy to see 

 when I was getting farther away or nearer to the nest, and 

 before many minutes I found it. 



