150 
PRflECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOLAS. 
ern States they are resident throughout the year, and most numerous in the winter. 
They are also found at this season in Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. 
Mr. Salvin observed a flock of these Plovers frequenting the open land near Duenas 
during the winter, and occasionally feeding in the cochineal plantations between the 
rows of nopal. He also found it common in other parts of Guatemala, both in all 
the highland swamps and in similar localities in the hot district with little eleva- 
tion, everywhere preferring interior fresh-water marshes to the tide-washed sand- 
banks of the shore. Mr. Leyland also met with individuals near Omoa, and Mr. G. 
C. Taylor obtained several specimens on Tigre Island, and afterward on the open 
part of the plains of Comayagua. Specimens were taken in St. Thomas by Mr. 
Piise, and Dr. Bryant speaks of it as very common in the Bahamas during winter. 
Dr. J. G. Cooper mentions the Ivildeer as a constant resident in California wher- 
ever water is permanent. It was especially abundant at Los Angeles, December, 
1860. Except in its more northern places of abode, it is only partially migratory. 
Dr. Cooper also states that this Plover winters in all parts of California south of 
San Francisco. It migrates during April and May northwards, but a portion remain 
in summer in all the western part of that State. They prefer gravelly shores of 
brooks and rivers, but sometimes visit inundated meadows, or even dry and barren 
plains, where they feed on insects, and probably also on seeds. 
They are very noisy, and their note — which to the Spanish ear sounds like tildeo , 
and not kildeer — is uttered in a complaining tone whenever any one approaches 
them. Though by no means timid, they always seem very much distressed by the 
presence of man, and act as if they had nests at all seasons; and, whether they 
are actually nesting or not, run before their pursuer, counterfeiting lameness, and 
apparently trying to excite pity by their melancholy notes. In California they are 
not generally regarded as good food, being of a strong and musky flavor ; but in the 
autumn, when fat, they are not unfrequently eaten. 
Near Fort Hays, in Western Kansas, Mr. J. A. Allen found this species by far the 
most numerous of the Grallce. He afterward ascertained it to be equally abundant 
in the northeastern portion of the valley of Great Salt Lake. Mr. Ridgway found 
it more or less common in the prairies of the southern part of Illinois, and in his 
Western explorations it was by far the most generally distributed, as well as the most 
abundant bird of the order in all the fertile portions of the West, and resident in all 
sections where the streams are not frozen for any length of time during winter. 
On Long Island the Kildeer is more numerous than in New England. There, 
according to Giraud, in summer it prefers the open dry ground ; but on the approach 
of winter it descends to the sea-shore. It is more numerous in the northern por- 
tions of that island, which from their higher situation are better adapted than the 
southern for its residence in the summer. In his pedestrian excursion around that 
entire island, Giraud met with this Plover occasionally, but found it most abundant 
in a tract of waste ground near Green Point. The birds were very tame, and had 
evidently enjoyed undisputed possession of the place for some time. ' They were 
collecting worms and various kinds of insects ; and he watched their employment 
without interrupting it. 
The Kildeer feeds on worms and various kinds of insects on the uplands, and also 
frequents shallow pools and brooks in search of such small Crustacea as are found in 
the water. In the fall it is said to follow the ploughman, and pick up the larvae 
and other forms of insect life that are turned over in the furrows. 
Like most of its race, this Plover passes much of its time on the ground, over 
which it moves with great rapidity. It can run with such swiftness that — accord- 
