\5. 





'^-^1 



\'UL. III. No. I. 



NEW YORK. SEPl'EMHER, i,S 



95- 



hi.oo Pkk \'kar. 



The Killdeer— A Bird of Deceits. 



THE Killdeer Plover, or " Killdee," as it 

 is commonly called, that word express- 

 ing fairl)- well the bird's plaintive cry, 

 is to me of all the feathered kind a deceit and 

 an aggravation. Xor is it possible in any way 

 to shift the blame upon myself. The Killdeer 

 seems to know that he is exasperating, and to 

 take a peculiar delight in it. 



To fully understand why the Killdeer is an 

 arrant humbug the investigator should start 

 out, as I did, 

 to find its 

 eggs, framed 

 in that apol- 

 ogy for a 

 nest on the 

 ground. I 

 remember it 

 was down in 

 Fresno Co., 

 Cal, that I 

 visited one 

 day a pond 

 where in and 

 around the 

 overflow the 

 K i lid e e r s 

 were espe- 

 cially numer- 

 ous. I knew 

 they must 

 have nests, 

 and though 

 inexperi- 

 enced then 

 in the bird's habits, I determined to find a num- 

 ber of the eggs. It is proper to confess at the 

 start that I failed ignominiously. Those Kill- 

 deer seemed to have fathomed my evil inten- 

 tions, and pitted against me all their depth of 

 artfulness. They appeared to be everywhere, 

 a confusing ubiquity, and their wheedling cries 

 were incessant. 



YOUNG KILLDEER. 

 (['holographed from life.) 



"P/rase\' please noiv I please, mister, uoic.'" 

 they seemed to utter with painful plaintiveness 

 as they ran slowly before me, and then again 

 that long-drawn agonizing entreaty, '''Fleaie ' 

 please!" All of a sudden they would fly up 

 with a series of terrified ejaculations sounding 

 to my ears like, " O, mv, he won't ! He won't ! 



o: or- 



Hither and thither I was led over the 

 swampy ground, and again and again was 

 treated to that falsetto concert, but not a 

 semblance of an egg could I see anywhere. But 



in spite of 

 my discom- 

 fiture over 

 his foolerj', I 

 believe I 

 have, after 

 all, a sneak- 

 ing admira- 

 tion for the 

 Killdeer. 



More than 

 most water 

 Mrds that 

 .ire found 

 inland he 

 possesses the 

 important 

 art of hid- 

 ing on the 

 ground. You 

 startle one 

 from where 

 it is feeding, 

 near its com- 

 panion by 

 some swampy pool, and it utters its shrill alarm 

 cry, flies a short distance and then settles again, 

 confident of its security. .\nd the confidence 

 you perceive to be well grounded when the 

 cunning bird moves forward a few feet — to be 

 dissolved from view. 



You may have determined to watch that 

 particular Killdeer closely, but somehow the 



