Shore-bird Shooting 465 



ment of the prairie, following the plains to the 

 Pacific Coast, and passing south into tropical 

 America. The northern limit of its common 

 range is the Saskatchewan. With early spring 

 the bird arrives in most of its resorts, sometimes 

 not waiting for the snow to leave. It frequents 

 the cattle pastures and ploughed ground, gather- 

 ing about the smaller pools, keeping, for the most 

 part, on the ground ; few birds are more at ease 

 on their feet, running with speed, if necessary 

 taking wing lightly with quick flight, uttering its 

 plaintive killdee as it flies from possible harm. 

 The bird is not particularly good eating, and 

 hence in many places is undisturbed. In Dakota 

 I have seen them close to the farms, feeding 

 within a few feet of the houses, often among the 

 chickens. In spite of the bright, attractive color- 

 ing of its plumage, the killdeer is occasionally 

 difficult to see, and frequently I have heard the 

 note a short distance off without noticing the 

 bird until it flew. On the barren mesas of Mexico, 

 wherever there is water, the killdeer are very com- 

 mon, breeding abundantly. One nest I found lay 

 in the very centre of a narrow trail which was 

 used daily by herds of cattle on their way to 

 water. The birds, after using every art to dis- 

 tract the attention, alighted on the ground a few 

 feet away, and in piteous notes pleaded for their 

 possession. It was left unmolested. The breed- 



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