CHAPTER XXIV 
THE ORDER OF SHORE-BIRDS 
LIMICOLAE. 
There are many genera and species of birds in 
this Order, but for certain reasons it is difficult 
to form an acquaintance with more than a very 
few of them. The majority of them reach us 
only as birds of passage, on the way to or from 
their breeding grounds farther north, and during 
the year are with us only a few weeks. Others 
are so few in number, and live in such remote 
localities that they, also, are beyond our ac- 
quaintance. As usual, therefore, we will in- 
troduce only those species that are sufficiently 
abundant, long-tarrying and generally interest- 
ing to make them worth knowing. 
As the name of the Order indicates, these 
birds live on the ocean and lake beaches, and 
the banks of rivers, ponds and pools, where they 
find many kinds of queer things to feed upon. 
On the boundary line betwixt sea and land they 
find many insects, shell-fish, crustaceans and 
worms. The Turnstones make a business of 
turning over pebbles and small stones, in order 
to capture the worms and insects that take 
shelter under them. 
The Kill-Deer Plover 1 makes an excellent 
representative of a large section of this Order. 
It is of average size, and handsome appearance, 
and is such a loud and frequent caller its 
presence is always well advertised. It is so 
widely distributed that millions of people may 
know it if they will. It is a bird of the inland 
ponds and pools, not of the sea-shore, and it is 
found throughout the whole temperate portion of 
North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
It is not a bird of heavily timbered regions, how- 
ever, and is most abundant in the lake regions 
of the Mississippi valley. On the prairies of the 
Middle West, wherever there are small, shallow 
ponds, or even pools in wet meadows, all through 
the season of mild weather you will hear its 
clear and rather strident cry of “ Kill-d-e-e-r ! 
1 Ox-y-e'chus vo-cif'er-a. Length, 10£ inches. 
Kill-d-e-e-r !” And it is always a pleasing 
sight to see this immaculate bird in snow-white, 
brown and black plumage standing at the edge 
of a bit of water — a stroke of living high-light 
in the landscape. I always liked the Kill Deer, 
and, although I have seen hundreds, and heard 
its cry a thousand times, I never wearied of its 
companionship. In my opinion it is our most 
beautiful shore-bird. 
The American Golden Plover , 2 also called 
Green and Field Plover, is (or, at least was 
until recently) the Plover most frequently seen 
in the Atlantic states, and in the markets. It 
frequents the banks of marshes and tide pools 
along the sea-shore, but it is equally fond of the 
pools and ponds of the uplands, particularly in 
KILL-DEER PLOVER. 
old meadows. They are seldom seen during the 
spring migration; they do not remain with us 
during the summer, and it is only during the 
months of their fall migration, from August 15, 
2 Char-a-dri'us do-min'i-cus. Average length, 10 
inches. 
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