Reproduction 89 
ing her feathers and having evidently just left the eggs, but my 
efforts to flush one off the nest were fruitless. . .”? I do not 
believe the male influences the female in any way, ‘bn had gone 
from her nest at so great a distance that Merrill had not seen 
her leave. Brewster (1894) writes that the female sneaked off 
when at some distance, unconcerned, flew with a steady, rapid 
motion of the wings. Bendire (1895) quotes Harris: ‘‘Early 
in the day the female will usually leave before you are within 
50 yards of it, creeping away for some distance, crouched close to 
the ground before taking wing. . . Toward evening they are 
not so cautious, and very often the nest can be approached within 
a few feet . . . the female will fly only a few yards, alight, and 
begin pecking the ground. . .’? Brooks (1899) writes that the 
female ‘‘flies straight away when one comes within 50 feet’’ of 
the nest. Jones (1892), Hegner (1899) and Forbush (1927) 
describe a similar reaction as does Sutton (1927, p. 188) though 
the latter adds a bit of nonsense with the statement that, ‘‘Per- 
haps the birds realize that human beings are acquainted with 
the crippled wing ruse of such species as the Killdeer and have 
decided to use other tactics’’. Jones (1892) also presumed that 
Larks never went ‘fluttering and crying’’ from the nest. As a 
matter of fact Lark and Killdeer respond very similarly (for 
this see further and also the author’s paper ‘‘Nesting of the 
Killdeer’’ cited below). 
The other reaction is a marked distress simulation in which 
the female flushes only after an intruder is well upon the nest. 
She goes then calling and fluttering over the ground at a rapid 
run, horns up, wings flapping. Audubon (1832) describes this 
for both the male and female of O. a. alpestris and Forbush 
(1927) writes that ‘‘sometimes when the eggs are near hatching, 
and she is suddenly surprised while incubating, she may act 
like a crippled bird. . .’’ My observations have shown no clear 
relationship between this reaction and state of either incubation 
or brooding. 
As Harris (Bendire 1895), has said, the nest may be more 
closely approached near night. In other words the typical 
casual-abandonment is best expressed during the lighter portions 
of the day and especially during the warmer days. Distress 
simulation, on the other hand, is more likely to be demonstrated 
near dark, on cold days, or if the incubating bird is approached 
