KILLDEER. 87 



There seems to be a section west of the Allegheny Mountains in 

 which the killdeer arrives earlier than at corresponding latitudes 

 either east or west. The average date of arrival at Waterloo, Ind., 

 is March 5 (Link); Oberlin, Ohio, March 5 (Jones); Livonia, Mich., 

 March 10 (Alexander); and Petersburg, Mich., March 10 (Trombly). 

 Near there in Pennsylvania, on the western side of the mountains, 

 the date of arrival at Waynesburg has already been given as March 

 8 (Jacobs). At the same latitude in Pennsylvania east of the 

 mountains the killdeer arrives a week later, while to the westward 

 of Indiana the retardation of migration is shown by the following 

 dates of arrival: Central Missouri, average March 12, earliest Feb- 

 ruary 4, 1890 (Bush); southern Iowa, average March 12, earliest 

 March 2, 1906 (Davison) ; southern Wisconsin, average of thirty years 

 March 15, earliest March 2, 1887 (Welman); Chicago, 111., average of 

 sixteen years March 21, earliest February 28, 1895 (Woodruff). 

 Farther north in Ontario, as the killdeer nears the limit of its breed- 

 ing range, the arrival is much delayed; southern Ontario is not 

 reached on the average until March 23, earliest March 7, 1903 (Smith), 

 while the average date at Ottawa, Ontario, is April 17, earliest 

 March 18, 1894 (White). Dates of arrival farther west are: Man- 

 hattan, Kans., average March 8, earliest February 27, 1882 (Lantz); 

 Onaga, Kans., average March 4, earliest February 23, 1891 (Creve- 

 coeur); Syracuse, Nebr., average March 10, earliest February 26, 

 1902 (Hunter) ; central South Dakota, average March 24, earliest 

 March 20, 1889 (Cheney) ; Lanesboro, Minn., average March 29, ear- 

 liest March 13, 1889 (Hvoslef ) ; Argusville, N. Dak., average April 7, 

 earliest March 31, 1893 (Edwards); Larimore, N. Dak., average 

 April 7, earliest April 3, 1893 (Eastgate) ; southern Manitoba, aver- 

 age April 5, earliest March 24, 1902 (Criddle) ; Qu'Appelle, Saskatche- 

 wan, average April 16, earliest April 8, 1903 (Wemyss) ; two seen 

 June 25, 1903, at Fort Resolution, Mackenzie (Preble). 



The advance in the Rocky. Mountains is not so late comparatively 

 as in most species: Cheyenne, Wyo., average March 21, earliest 

 March 16, 1889 (Bond) ; Rathdrum, Idaho, average March 30, ear- 

 liest February 19, 1902 (Danby) ; Terry, Mont., average April 6, 

 earliest March 29, 1897 (Cameron); Big Sandy, Mont., average 

 April 6, earliest April 3, 1904 (Coubeaux) ; Red Deer, Alberta, April 

 11, 1893 (Farley); Portland, Oreg., February 27, 1900 (Nicholas); 

 Grays Harbor, Washington, February 16, 1892 (Lawrence); southern 

 British Columbia, February 28, 1888 (Brooks). South of the breed- 

 ing grounds the last was seen at San Jose, Costa Rica, March 12, 1890 

 (Cherrie), and at Sisal, Yucatan, May 9, 1865 (Schott). 



The date of nesting seems to bear little relation to the latitude. 

 Eggs have been taken at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California, May 9, 

 1860 (Xantus); Monterey, Calif., March, 1867 (Day and Spencer); 



