260 CHADBOURNE on a Flight of Killdeer Plover. [July 
of the coast. The farthest inland that I know the species to have 
been shot is Cambridge, Mass., where a single bird was taken 
by Mr. W. P. Coues on Dec. 25, 1888. 
The region from which these Plover came cannot be absolutely 
proved, but there seems to be evidence enough to leave little doubt 
that it was somewhere in the South Atlantic States north of 
Florida. Mr. S. H. Henshaw has most kindly examined the 
stomachs of several Killdeer shot on Nantucket between the 25th 
and 30th of November, not more than three days after their arrival 
on the Island. They contained practically nothing but insects, 
and most of these were so broken and macerated that they had 
undoubtedly been in the stomach for several days, probably 
a week. There was no species. that does not occur on the 
Massachusetts coast, though the majority are far more common 
in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia than on Nan- 
tucket. ‘*Had the birds come from west of the Alleghany Moun- 
tains some characteristic insects would almost surely have been 
found, and the same is true if they had come from Florida.” 
Taking it for granted that this portion of the flight, at any rate, 
came from the Atlantic States, somewhere north of Florida and 
south of New England, probably not north of Virginia, let us see 
how the great influx of Killdeer Plover along the New England 
coast can be accounted for. 
In the southern Atlantic States the Killdeer are probably 
migrating southward during the latter part of November. In the 
Carolinas on Noy. 23 at 8 p. mM. the wind was northeast and from 
eight to ten miles an hour, while farther inland it was due north 
and only six miles an hour, and throughout the whole region 
it was somewhat cloudy. Mr. W. W. Cooke * and others 
have proved that slight cloudiness will not keep birds from 
starting on their southern journey, and on this evening there 
was a light and favorable wind to help them south without 
being so strong as to make it hard for them to direct their 
course as they wished. During the night of the 23rd it grew more 
cloudy, but the birds, though unable to see their landmarks, yet 
thinking their course the right one would have kept on their way. 
In the mean time the wind had gradually shifted more to the west, 
until at eight A.M. it was due north or northwest, and therefore 
* ‘Report of Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley in the years 1884 and 1885. 
W. W. Cooke. Washington, 1888. 
