CHAPTER XVin 

 BIRDS OF THE SHORE AND MARSHES 



KiLLDEER — SeMIPAUMATED OR RiNG-NECKED PlOVEK — 



Least Sandpiper — Spotted Sandpiper — Woodcock 

 AND Wilson's Snipe — Sora and Clapper Rails — 

 Coot — Great Blue Heron — ^Little Green Heron 

 — ^Bittern 



The Killdeer 



Length — 9.5 to 10.5 inches. About the size of the robin. 



Male and Female — Grayish brown washed with olive 

 above; the forehead, spot behind eyes, throat, a ring 

 around the neck, a patch on wing, a band across breast, 

 and underneath, white; front of crown, cheeks, a ring 

 around neck, and a band across breast, black; lower back 

 and base of tail, chestnut; inner tail feathers like upper 

 parts; outer feathers chestnut and white all with sub- 

 terminal band of black tipped with white. Bill black; 

 legs light; eyelids red. 



Range — ^Temperate North America to Newfoundland and 

 Manitoba; nests throughout range; winters usually 

 south of New England to Bermuda, the West Indies, 

 Central and South America. 



Season — ^Resident, March to November, or later; most 

 abundant in spring and autumn migrations. 



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