The Killdeer 



companies deployed over the dry sands of the upper beach, each as silent 

 as a ghost, and each intent upon moving so discreetly as not to challenge 

 the attention of the local Lares. It was a most comforting sight. 



The Killdeer favors open situations wherein convenient access to 

 water offers, be they pastures, meadows, fallow fields, virgin prairies, 

 lake beaches, or mud bars. Being a plover and not a snipe, the Killdeer 



Taken w San Luis Obispo County 



NEST AND EGGS OF KILLDEER 



Photo by the Author 



requires a firm footing. Though they haunt the edges of pools and wade 

 belly-deep in water, on occasion, they neither dabble nor probe, but only 

 snatch and glean — and "holler." The Killdeer nests on the ground in 

 the most exposed situations, preferably, but not invariably, those devoid 

 of vegetation. The four eggs are always placed with the little ends 

 inward, and are so closely crowded together into the deep hollow that the 

 major axes incline as much as 45 or 50 degrees, and the larger apices 

 measure sometimes only an inch and a half from egg to egg; this, of course, 

 that the parent bird may have the maximum of covering power over 

 the relatively enormous eggs. 



1304 



