CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 



WATER BIRDS 



THE water birds, like the land birds, belong to several 

 different orders. The ducks and geese are adapted for 

 swimming, the herons for wading, the plovers for get- 

 ting food from mud flats, and the gulls and terns for 

 picking up food from the water while flying over it. 

 The birds of these four orders differ greatly in appear- 

 ance, nor do they resemble loons, pelicans, or rails, which 

 belong to still other orders of water birds. 



Possibly more than fifty species of water birds fly 

 within a few miles of your home when they are mi- 

 grating, but unless you live near a river or some large 

 body of water you may not have a chance to see a 

 dozen species in a whole year. 



SHORE BIRDS 



The killdeer. The kilideer is not much larger than a 

 robin, but its wings are so long that when seen in flight 

 the bird may appear almost as large as a pigeon. Its 

 bill shows some resemblance to a pigeon's, but killdeers 

 are on the whole quite different from any of the birds 

 previously described. They belong to the Limicolcz, one 

 of the orders of water birds. They have moderately long, 

 bare legs and have no hind toe. They do not perch upon 

 or cling to branches or trunks of trees, but, when not fly- 

 ing, are to be seen on damp ground or in shallow water. 

 Their four large eggs are placed with the small ends point- 

 ing toward the center of the nest, which is on the ground, 

 sometimes near water, sometimes in a pasture or corn- 

 field. The young are able to leave the nest as soon as 



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