PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. 183 



keenly as he moved away. I hurriedly dinibed 

 down, lest he should topple to the ground and dash 

 himself to death ; and thus, while I was on the brink 

 of causing a tragedy, yet, as a sort of emollient to 

 my conscience, I consoled myself with the thought 

 that I had really prevented one. 



Another interesting discovery of the same spring 

 was a killdeer plover's nest, which my farmer friend 

 across-lots found in a clover-field. There had been 

 a heavy rainfall, making the ploughed ground as soft 

 as mush ; but my tall rubber boots were mud-proof, 

 and so I went to pay the plovers my respects. This 

 was after six o'clock in the evening. I found one 

 httle bird in the shallow, pebble-lined nest, and 

 three eggs, one of them slightly broken at the larger 

 end. The plover nestling was an odd baby, with 

 its large head, fluffy, square-shouldered body, and 

 slender beak sticking straight out. A small piece of 

 the egg-shell still clung to its back. On taking the 

 tiny thing into my hand, what was this I saw? It 

 had only three toes on each foot, instead of four, as 

 most birds have ; and those three were all fore toes, 

 while the bird had no hind toe at all. Why the 

 plover should have no hind toe is an enigma ; but 

 then, the ostrich has none, either, and only two in 

 front, — " every species after its kind." 



Early the next morning two more youngsters had 

 broken shell, and come forth to keep their more 

 precocious brother company. The eldest was marked 

 quite distinctly about the head and neck hke its 

 parents, having the characteristic white and black 



