THE KILL-DEER PLOVER. 417 



they winnow the air overhead, dive and course around you, or run 

 along the ground counterfeiting lameness, are shrill and incessant. 

 The moment they see a person approach, they fly or run to attack 

 him with their harassing clamor, continuing it over so wide an 

 extent of ground, that they puzzle the pursuer as to the particular 

 spot where the nest or young are concealed ; very much resem- 

 bling, in this respect, the Lapwing of Europe. During the even- 

 ing, and long after dusk, particularly in moonlight, their cries are 

 frequently heard with equal violence, both in the spring and fall. 

 From this circumstance, and their flying about both after dusk and 

 before dawn, it appears probable that they see better at such times 

 than most of their tribe. They are known to feed much on worms, 

 and many of these rise to the surface during the night. The 

 prowling of Owls may also alarm their fears for their young at 

 those hours ; but, whatever may be the cause, the facts are so. 



" The Kill-deer is more abundant in the Southern States in win- 

 ter than in summer. Among the rice-fields, and even around the 

 planters' yards, in South Carolina, I observed them very numerous 

 in the months of February and March. There the negro boys fre- 

 quently practise the barbarous mode of catching them with a line, 

 at the extremity of which is a crooked pin, with a worm on it. 

 Their flight is something like that of the Tern, but more vigorous ; 

 and they sometimes rise to a great height in the air. They 

 are fond of wading in pools of water, and frequently bathe them- 

 selves during the summer. They usually stand erect on their legs, 

 and run or walk with the body in a stiff, horizontal position : they 

 run with great swiftness, and are also strong and vigorous in the 

 wings. Their flesh is eaten by some, but is not in general esteem; 

 though others say, that, in the fall, when they become very fat, it 

 is excellent. 



" During the extreme droughts of summer, these birds resort to 

 the gravelly channel of brooks and shallow streams, where they can 

 wade about in search of aquatic insects : at the close of summer, 

 they generally descend to the seashore in small flocks, seldom more 

 than ten or twelve being seen together. They are then more serene 

 and silent, as well as difficult to be approached. 



The eggs of this species are four in number. They are 

 oblong-pyriform in shape, creamy-buflf in color, with numer 



27 



