740 liui'OKT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Length, 10.00-11.25; wing, 6.20-6.75; tail, 3.60-4.10; culincn, 

 .70-.90; tarsus, 1.40-1.55. 



EANGE. America, from Columbia and West Indies north to Mani- 

 toba and Newfoundland. Breeds throughout its North American 

 range. Winters in southern Illinois and southern Indiana and Vir- 

 ginia southward. 



Nest, on ground. Eggs, 4; buffy-white, with chocolate markings, 

 principally at the larger end; 1.47 by 1.04. 



Common summer resident. Eesident in greater or less numbers, 

 some winters, in the southern part of the State. Often, over a good 

 part of the State, they are not absent more than two months. The 



Killdeer. 



bulk of them spend their winters along the Gulf of Mexico. Every- 

 where it is the earliest and best known of its family to arrive. In the 

 Whitewater Valley, some winters, it remains; others, it leaves for 

 a few weeks in December. The following give the date it was first 

 seen each year at Brookville: 1881, February 15; 1884, March 12; 

 1886, March 14; 1887, March 6; 1889, February 16; 1890, February 

 15; 1893, March 3; 1895, March 22. In Knox County Mr. E. J. 

 Chansler says it is resident, some seasons common, others rare. Some 

 years it is found as early as February over almost the entire State. 

 The following dates of first appearance north of the latitude of In- 

 dianapolis are taken from years of early spring migrations: Lafayette, 

 February 26, 1889 (Test); 1894 and 1896 were early years. The for- 

 mer they were noted as follows: Laporte, March 3 (Barber); Sedan, 

 Dekalb County, March 2 (Mrs. Hine); Plymouth, Mich., March 4 

 (Alexander); Sandusky, 0., March 4 (Moseley); Chicago, 111., March 

 10 (Dunn). The latter year at the following places: Camden, Feb- 

 nury 28 (Sterling); North Manchester (Bell), Waterloo (Mrs. Hine), 



