490 Colorado College Publication 



Oxyechus vociferus. Killdeer. 



A common summer resident, arriving sometime in March, 

 and mainly leaving in the fall by October first, but a few remain 

 much later. An early record is February 17, 1909, at Piiion, 

 Pueblo County, just south of our boundary. Most common at 

 low elevations. 



Podasocys montanus. Mountain Plover. 



Formerly a common summer resident. 



In the early eighties a number of pairs nested on the 

 prairie land just north of Colorado Springs that is now built 

 over by the growing city. None have been reported near the 

 city for twenty years but there are a few breeding in the east- 

 ern part of the County. Aiken saw a female bird and newly 

 hatched young at Ramah^ June 7, 1898, and O'Connor says 

 one or two pairs bred near his ranch 10 miles east of Fountain 

 in 19.13. Aiken found a nest with three fresh eggs 30 miles 

 east of Colorado Springs May 25, 1878, which his notes state 

 "was discovered beside the road through the anxiety displayed 

 by the parent bird. The eggs were laid upon several soft 

 leaves of the prairie thistle with no other semblance of a nest 

 save the slight depression in the ground." 



The Mountain Plover differs greatly in habits and char- 

 acteristics from its near relative tlie Killdeer. It shows no 

 preference for wet ground but on the contrary frequents 

 mesas or high rolling prairie land, often remote from water. 

 Their manner is quiet ; they have no wailing cry ; they run 

 rapidly a short distance and stand silent and motionless with 

 the head sunk low on the shoulders. Their unspotted plumage 

 blends with the color of the dry grass and parched ground and 

 makes them difficult to discover. 



But in August, when the young birds shift for them- 

 selves, they gather in flocks and repair to the vicinity of 

 water holes and flooded fields. Cooke cites the fact that Cap- 

 tain Thorne shot 126 in one day at this season as evidence of 

 the abundance of this species, but that is not a fair basis for 



