The Killdeer 89 



other posture or stream and dart down to investigate another 

 bit of scenery. I do not remember to have ever seen a flock of 

 them in repose. They have the habit of bobbing up and down 

 in a kind of involuntary courtesy especially if any one is 

 watching them and they are a trifle suspicious of the intruder. 

 They then are apt to start off in a rapid run, and as they run, 

 utter their other and lower call which is represented by 

 "te-e-e-e-e-t." Their large eyes tell the story that they feed 

 at night as well as in the day time, and often at night, when 

 the first faint stars peep out from the folds of night's gray cur- 

 tains, their call, "kildee, kildee" is to be heard. The negroes 

 down south believe that the killdeer is a witch bird, and some 

 of them never shoot them for fear the spirit of the dead bird 

 might come back and haunt them. 



Except when breeding kildeers are gregarious. As Wil- 

 son says, "'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. 

 When in flight they sometimes rise to a great height in the air. 

 Their flesh is not very good for food, but they are hunted and 

 killed for that purpose." That they are useful birds can not 

 be successfully controverted. I agree with Mr. William L. 

 Bailey that "the kildeer is in every respect a beautiful bird. 

 Whether seen at a distance, sailing or diving with such grace- 

 ful ease through the buoyant air, or whether upon a nearer 

 view, we look upon the lively tints of his exquisite plumage, 

 we can not but feel that he is worthy of our notice, and to be- 

 come the companion of our rambles." 



The migration of birds is, perhaps, the most interesting 

 subject connected with their study. What becomes of our sum- 

 mer birds? Where do they spend the winter? By what routes 

 do they travel and how do they travel to their destinations? 

 How do they find their way? These are questions which have 

 been puzzling the brain of man for centuries. Some of our 

 shore birds appear to make traveling their chief occupation. 

 Notably among these is the American golden plover, a cousin 

 to the killdeer plover. In a valuable paper Mr. Wells W. Cooke 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture, says that the 

 golden plovers are found in southern Brazil and the prairie re- 



