348 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



KILLDEER {Oxyechus vodferus). 

 Common or local names: KiUdeer Plover; Killdee. 



Length. — 9 to 10.50 inches; bill .80. 



Adult. — Top of head and entire back brown; chin, throat and ring entirely 

 around neck white; forehead and sides of head black and white before 

 eye, passing to brown and buffy behind it; lower parts white; a black 

 collar, widening in front, and a narrow black band across breast a little 

 below it; wings show contrast of dark and white when spread; rump 

 and base of tail vary from orange brown to light chestnut or cinnamon; 

 tail variegated with cinnamon or chestnut brown, black and white and 

 their gradations; bill, iris, legs and feet blackish. 



Young. — Similar, but the black bands replaced by gray; feathers of upper 

 parts marked with rusty brown. 



Field Marks. — One of the larger Plovers, with a white ring on neck and 

 two black bands on breast. When facing the observer it shows four 

 black bands, two on head and two on breast. Wings long and narrow; 

 cinnamon rump and white of wings show plainly in flight. 



Notes. — A high-pitched, noisy Hldee, Hldee, Mldee and similar notes, in 

 a complaining tone. 



Nest. — In grass or among pebbles, usually near water, sometimes in fields. 



Eggs. — Usually four, about 1.50 by 1.10, varying from drab to cream, and 

 marked with blackish or dark brown in endless variations. 



Season. — A rare migrant and very rare local summer resident; formerly 

 more common; about March 1 to mid November. 



Range. — North and South America. Breeds from central British Columbia, 

 southern Mackenzie, central Keewatin and central Quebec south to 

 Gulf coast and central Mexico; winters from California, Arizona, 

 Texas, Indiana, New Jersey and Bermuda south to Venezuela and 

 Peru; casual in Newfoundland, Paraguay and Chile; accidental in 

 Great Britain. 



