CHAPTER XV. 



APRIL 2 to April 8. 



THE KILLDEER. 



Order Limicolae Family Charadriidae 



Genus Aegialitis. Sub-genus Oxyechus 



Species Agialitis vocifera 



Length 10.00 to 11.25 5 wing, 6.20 to 6.75 ; tail, 3.60 to 4.10. 

 Migration North, March ; south, November. 



"O little plover, still circling over 



Your nest in clover, your house of love, 

 Sure none dare harm it, and none alarm it 



While you are keeping your watch above." 



"Now let me pass, sir, a harmless lass, sir, 



With no designs on your eggs of blue, 

 I wish your family both health and wealth, sir, 



And to be as faithful and kind as you." 



The family Charadriidse is composed of the plovers, and 

 has in it about one hundred species. Only eight of these are 

 found in North America. Birds of this family have large heads 

 with moderately long and slender bills which are shaped 

 somewhat like a pigeon's ; short, thick necks and plump 

 bodies ; wings long, pointed and extending to the tip of the 

 tail, and in some instances with spurs ; tails short, broad, and 

 generally even; tarsi, long and slender; the outer and middle 

 toes are more or less united at the base, and the hind toe 

 small or wanting. Indeed it may be said that this is the three 

 toed family of birds. 



The killdeer, a member of this family, gets its name from 

 its notes of "kill-dee, kill-dee, dee, dee, dee." In appearance 



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