458 BIEDS — CHARADKIID^. 



Above quaker-brown with, a greenisb tinge, eometimee most of the feathers tipped and 

 edged -with orange-bro-wn ; rump and upper tail coverts orange-brown ; most of tail 

 feathers white at base and tip, snffased with orange-brown in pait of their length and 

 with 1-3 black bars ; secondaries mostly white, and primaries with a white space ; a 

 black bar across the crown and two black bands on the neck and breast ; forehead and 

 entire under parts except as stated white ; bill black ; feet pale ; eyelids scarlet. 



Length, 9-10 inches ; wing, 6 or mor« ; tall, 3^ much rounded ; tarsus, about 1^. 



Habitat, Temperate North America. West Indies. Central and South America in 

 winter. Accidental in Euroi>e. 



Abundant summer resident. Breeds. Arrives during the first week 

 in March, usually, sometimes during the latter part of February, and re- 

 mains until the last of October or later. No sooner are the streams per- 

 manently open, even before the fields are free from snow, than the 

 characteristic note, from which it takes its name, is heard. Commonly 

 single birds are first seen flying high, afterwards they appear in pairs and 

 soon set about breeding. They frequent both high and low grounds, pas- 

 tures, fallow fields and old brick yards, as well as borders of streams. The 

 nest is placed on the ground, usually in the vicinity of a stream or pond, 

 and often on a elevated spot ; when it is approached by man or other sus- 

 picions object, the birds manifest great alarm and anxiety, hovering over- 

 head with shrill cries, or, if the danger is imminent, tumbling upon the 

 ground, aflfecting all manner of injuries to draw the intruder away, as is 

 the habit of many others of this order, as well as the Quail and Dove. 



After the breeding season is over, both young and old collect in 

 flocks of from ten to fifty, and seek the muddy or gravelly shores of streams, 

 where they feed, augmenting their numbers daily until they depart for 

 the south. At this time the note, Kildeer, Kildeer, is less frequently 

 heard, unless the flock has become scattered, but a lower alarm note, a 

 rapid U i i i it, is frequently sounded as they run stiffly but swiftly over 

 the gravel and in the shallows. 



The eggs of the Kildeer are four in number, drab or clay-color rather 

 thickly spotted and blotched with blackish-brown. The smaller end is 

 quite pointed, as is commonly the case with birds of this order. They 

 measure 1.50 by 1.12. 



iEeiALiTis SEMiPALMATA Bonaparte. 



Sexnipalmatad Plover; I2.ingiiec]z. 



Charatlrius semipalmaius, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog. Snrv., 1838, 168, 184. 

 Aegialitis eemipalmatvs, Whbaton, Ohio Agrio. Eep. for 1860, 368 ; Beprint, 1861, 10 

 ^ffialitis semipaJmains, Whkaton, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agrio. Rep. for 1874, 572 ; Re- 

 print, 1875, 9.— Langdon, Cat Birds of Cin., 1877, 14 ; Revised List, Journ. Cin. 

 Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 184 ; Reprint, 16.— Durt and Frebman, ib., iii, 1880, 104 ; 

 Reprint, 5. 



