J^ott^ from iFielti anti ^tutrj> 



Unusual Breeding-Site of Killdeer 

 Plover 



The Killdeer Plover has always been a 

 rare bird in the Cambridge region. There 

 are only a few records of its breeding within 

 that area (Cf. Brewster, 1906, Mem. Nut- 

 tall Ornith. Club 4, 168). It was, therefore, 

 of some interest to find a pair breeding 

 last summer in a plowed field bordering on 

 Soldier's Field, very near where another 

 pair bred in 1903 (Cf. Brewster loc. cit.). 



The chief point of interest, however, was 

 not the reappearance of the Killdeer in the 

 Cambridge region but of its apparent in- 

 difference to its surroundings, then greatly 

 altered to meet war conditions. Several 

 times a week, throughout the summer 

 months, the geater part of the 4,500 men 

 in training at the Harvard Radio School 

 paraded on Soldier's Field. They were gen- 

 erally accompanied by one or two bands 

 and one or two bugle corps. While the 

 several battalions of sailors would occupy 

 the main drill-grounds, the naval cadets of 

 the Ofiicer Material School, and sometimes 

 the students in the R.O.T.C., would carry 

 out maneuvers on the surrounding fields, 

 and at least one day on the very field where 

 this pair of Killdeers were breeding. The 

 first time I observed the birds was during 

 the last week in June. The pair flew out 

 from the plowed field over the heads of an 

 advancing battalion of cadets. After 

 uttering a few plaintive kil-dee's, they 

 alighted only a hundred yards from the 

 column and stood motionless. When the 

 battalion drew somewhat nearer, they 

 arose again and flew to another corner of 

 the field. I saw the pair many times 

 throughout July, and they always showed 

 this same indifference to the presence of 

 large masses of men or to the loud-sound- 

 ing bands which accompanied them. 



There is a series of tennis-courts along 

 one side of Soldier's Field. These are pro- 

 tected by a wire fence. When repeatedly 

 flushed from the field, the Killdeers would 



(i 



at length scale down gracefully to the 

 courts, and, after running a short distance, 

 stand motionless in their characteristic 

 way. 



Various military duties prevented me 

 from ever searching for the nest which 

 these birds apparently tended in the old 

 plowed field. But in the second week in 

 August, when a change of routine again 

 brought me to Soldier's Field, I was much 

 interested to find four Killdeers in the 

 usual corner. These birds allowed me to 

 approach to about 50 yards, and at that 

 distance it was possible to observe, even 

 without glasses, that two of the group were 

 youngish birds. For more than a week the 

 birds were ifi the vicinity, and would always 

 fly out at the approach of our battalion. 

 Then came another break in my visits, and 

 when I again returned to the field in early 

 September, the birds had disappeared. 



From these random observations it 

 seems certain that the pair of Killdeers suc- 

 cessfully raised a brood of two young on 

 the edge of a much-used drill-ground. It 

 is possible that this was not their first 

 brood, for the dates of the appearance of 

 the young is much later than that given 

 by other observers. It is impossible to say 

 whether or not there was an earlier set of 

 eggs, but at least it was obvious that the 

 birds were very devoted to their nesting- 

 site in spite of much noise and confusion.— 

 G. K. Noble, New York City. 



Notes on Nesting Bluebirds and 

 House Wrens 



Every year a pair of Bluebirds builds in 

 our garden. There are two houses just 

 alike, and about 10 or 12 feet apart, one 

 facing south and one east. This year, 

 when the birds arrived, they chose the 

 one with the southern exposure. The nest 

 was soon completed, and the female began 

 sitting. 



Some time later I noticed that the birds 

 were carrying grass and things into the 



73) 



