﻿348 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  12th. 
  In 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  the 
  decline 
  of 
  the 
  Golden 
  plover 
  is 
  even 
  

   more 
  marked 
  than 
  on 
  Long 
  Island, 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  still 
  occur 
  each 
  season, 
  the 
  

   migration 
  beginning 
  from 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  August 
  to 
  the 
  5th 
  of 
  September, 
  and 
  

   ending 
  from 
  the 
  15th 
  to 
  the 
  28th 
  of 
  October, 
  or 
  rarely 
  the 
  8th 
  of 
  November. 
  

   The 
  Golden 
  plover. 
  Green-back, 
  or 
  Frost 
  bird, 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  most 
  highly 
  

   prized 
  game 
  birds. 
  After 
  the 
  first 
  sharp 
  frost 
  of 
  autumn 
  they 
  usually 
  occur 
  

   in 
  the 
  greatest 
  numbers, 
  being 
  fat 
  and 
  well-flavored 
  from 
  a 
  continued 
  diet 
  

   of 
  berries 
  and 
  grasshoppers. 
  In 
  a 
  rolling 
  country 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  stalked 
  by 
  

   the 
  sportsmen, 
  but 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  are 
  usually 
  shot 
  over 
  decoys, 
  often 
  

   responding 
  easih- 
  to 
  an 
  imitation 
  of 
  their 
  whistle. 
  When 
  a 
  flock 
  is 
  

   approaching 
  the 
  decoys, 
  all 
  the 
  birds 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  whistling 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   time, 
  their 
  note 
  resembling 
  the 
  syllables, 
  coodle, 
  coodle, 
  coodle 
  [Mackay, 
  

   Auk, 
  8:17-24]. 
  On 
  the 
  feeding 
  grounds 
  they 
  run 
  rapidly 
  in 
  quest 
  of 
  

   food, 
  suddenly 
  stopping 
  after 
  a 
  short 
  run, 
  in 
  the 
  manner 
  of 
  plovers 
  in 
  

   general, 
  and 
  stand 
  erect 
  in 
  graceful 
  pose. 
  When 
  flying 
  from 
  one 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  fleld 
  to 
  another 
  the}- 
  utter 
  their 
  mellow 
  whistling 
  note 
  and 
  alight 
  

   with 
  upstretched 
  wings 
  to 
  scatter 
  immediateh' 
  in 
  further 
  search 
  for 
  food. 
  

  

  Oxyechus 
  vociferus 
  (Linnaeus) 
  

   Killdeer 
  Plover 
  

  

  Plate 
  39 
  

  

  Charadrius 
  vociferus 
  Linnaeus. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  Ed. 
  10. 
  1758. 
  1:150 
  

  

  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  212, 
  fig. 
  181 
  

   A 
  e 
  g 
  i 
  a 
  1 
  i 
  t 
  i 
  s 
  v 
  o 
  c 
  i 
  f 
  e 
  r 
  a 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  273 
  

  

  oxye'chus, 
  Gr. 
  6;>rj)^os, 
  sharp-sounding, 
  of 
  high 
  notes; 
  voci' 
  ferns, 
  Lat., 
  noisy, 
  

  

  vociferous 
  

  

  Description. 
  Wings 
  long; 
  tail 
  long, 
  rounded; 
  bill 
  slender; 
  black 
  band 
  

   encircling 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  neck, 
  broadest 
  in 
  front, 
  another 
  below 
  this 
  across 
  

   the 
  breast 
  separated 
  from 
  it 
  by 
  white 
  or 
  buffy 
  white; 
  a 
  blackish 
  stripe 
  

   extending 
  back 
  from 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  bill 
  below 
  the 
  eye 
  ; 
  a 
  black 
  band 
  from 
  

   one 
  eye 
  over 
  the 
  front 
  of 
  the 
  crown 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  eye, 
  separating 
  this 
  from 
  

   the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  bill 
  a 
  white 
  frontlet 
  ; 
  throat 
  white 
  extending 
  as 
  a 
  half 
  collar 
  

   around 
  the 
  back 
  of 
  the 
  neck; 
  a 
  space 
  behind 
  the 
  eyes 
  white 
  changing 
  to 
  

   buffy; 
  thus 
  when 
  the 
  bird 
  is 
  facing 
  the 
  observer, 
  it 
  presents 
  four 
  black 
  bands 
  

   separated 
  by 
  white; 
  top 
  of 
  head 
  and 
  upper 
  parts 
  grayish 
  brown; 
  rump. 
  

  

  