KILDEER PLOVER. 195 



so placed that the bill can reach the ground, the objectjs seized, and the 

 usual horizontal position is resumed. 



The flesh of the Kildee is generally indifferent, unless in early autumn, 

 when the young birds of that season are fat, juicy and tender. At all 

 seasons of the year, the Kildee is however shot by inexperienced sports- 

 men, and many of these birds are offered for sale in our markets. Little 

 difference is observed at any period in the plumage of the adult birds. 



Charadrius vociferus, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 253 Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. 



p. 742 — Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States p. 297 Swains. 



and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 368. 

 KiLDEER Plover, Charadrius vociferus, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vii. p. 73. 



pi. 59. fig. 6 — Nuttall, Manual, voL ii. p. 22. 



Adult Male in summer. Plate CCXXV. Fig. 1. 



Bill shorter than the head, straight, somewhat cylindrical. Upper 

 mandible with the dorsal line straight for two-thirds of its length, then 

 bulging a little and curving to the tip, which is rather acute, the sides 

 flat and sloping at the base, convex towards the end, where the edges are 

 sharp and inclinate. Nasal groove extended along two-thirds of the 

 mandible, filled with a bare membrane ; nostrils basal, linear, in the lower 

 part of the membrane, open, and pervious. Lower mandible with the 

 angle long, narrow, but rounded, the sides at the base sloping outwards 

 and flat, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the edges sharp 

 and involute towards the narrow tip. 



Head of moderate size, oblong, rather compressed, the forehead 

 rounded. Eyes large. Neck rather short. Body ovate, rather slender. 

 Wings long. Feet long, slender ; tibia bare a considerable way above 

 the joint ; tarsus rather compressed, covered all round with reticulated 

 hexagonal scales ; toes slender ; the hind toe wanting ; third or middle 

 toe longest, outer toe considerably longer than inner, all scutellate above 

 and marginate, the outer connected with the middle toe by a membrane 

 as far as the second joint ; claws small, compressed, slender but obtuse at 

 the end, the inner edge of the middle claw slightly dilated. 



Plumage soft and blended ; tiie feathers rounded, those of the back 

 somewhat distinct. Wings long and pointed ; primary quills tapering, 

 the first longest, the second a Httle shorter, the rest rapidly graduated ; 

 inner secondaries tapering and elongated, so as nearly to equal the longest 



