77 
KILDEER PLOVER. 
CHARJIDRIUS VOCIFERUS. 
[Plate LIX.— Fig. 6.] 
JVoisy Plover, Arct. Zool No. 400— Catesby, I, 71— Xe Kildir, Buff. VIII, 96.— ie 
Pluvier a collier de Firginie, Briss. 5, p. 68. — Ind. Orn. p. 742, No. 6. — Beale’s Mu- 
seuTUt No. 4174. 
THIS restless and noisy bird is known to almost every inha- 
bitant of the United States, being a common and pretty constant 
resident. During the severity of winter, when snow covers the 
ground, it retreats to the seashore, where it is found at all sea- 
sons ; but no sooner have the rivers broke up, than its shrill note 
is again heard, either roaming about high in air, tracing the shore 
of the river, or running amidst the watery flats and meadows. As 
spring advances it resorts to the newly ploughed fields, or level 
plains bare of grass, interspersed with shallow pools ; or, in the 
vicinity of the sea, dry bare sandy fields. In some such situation 
it generally chooses to breed, about the beginning of May. 'I'he 
nest is usually slight, a mere hollow, with such materials drawn in 
around it as happen to be near, such as bits of sticks, straw, peb- 
bles or earth. In one instance I found the nest of this bird paved 
with fragments of clam and oyster shells, and very neatly sur- 
rounded with a mound or border of the same, placed in a very 
close and curious manner. In some cases there is no vestige 
whatever of a nest. The eggs are usually four, of a bright rich 
cream or yellowish clay color, thickly marked with blotches of 
black. They are large for the size of the bird, measuring more 
than an inch and a half in length, and a full inch in width, taper- 
ing to a narrow point at the great end. 
VOL. VII. 
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