THE PLOVERS 



879 



A KILLDEER BROODING 

 The young birds can be seen crowding beneath the wing of the old bird. 



and, if the season is dry, make for the shores and 

 mud flats. If it is a rainy season, however, they may 

 be found far from water until late in the fall. Some 

 killdeers remain as far north as New Jersey for the 

 winter but others migrate southward as far as Vene- 

 zuela and Peru. 



Before the passage of the Federal Migratory Bird Law, 

 the killdeer was on the game list and their tiny bodies 

 graced the table of many a "pot hunter." The majority 



STANDING GUARD 



Note how protectively colored are both the old and young killdeers in 

 spite of their conspicuous marks. 



of sportsmen, however, though attracted by their swift 

 flight and apparent size, have always been willing, after 

 once discovering the size of their bodies, to leave them 

 in peace. Today all realize that their value about culti- 

 vated fields and pastures during the summer in destroy- 

 ing grasshoppers and other pests, more than equals their 

 slight value as food and are glad to see them given a 

 much deserved protection. 



The remaining North American plovers are somewhat 

 similar to the killdeer in general appearance but are 



smaller. Another difference is that the killdeer has two 

 black bands across its breast while the rest have but one. 

 Another distinctive mark of the killdeer is the rufous 

 patch above the tail. The conspicuous white ring 

 around the neck is shared by all but the plain colored 



HIS FIRST SWIM 



Young Killdeers can run and even swim very soon after hatching and 

 follow their parents about instead of staying in the nest. 



mountain plover of the high arid plains of the West. 

 The best known of the remaining plovers is the semi- 

 palmated or ring-necked plover which breeds in northern 

 North America and spends the winter anywhere from 

 the Gulf States to Patagonia. It seems to prefer sandy 

 beaches to the mud flats and is common during May 

 and again in August and September all along the coast 

 and the shores of inland lakes. Like the killdeer it 



A young Killdeer only a 



JUST OUT 

 few hours old but already far from home. 



appears much larger on the wing than it really is and 

 during the years that it was considered a game bird, 

 even the most callous "game hogs" could not but feel 

 a tinge of regret when they felt the tiny bodies of their 



