o6 The JVatiLralists' Conipanioii. 
from where I luul first seen the bird 
It was on a horizontal limb of a small 
oak, about ten feet from the ground. 
The female was on the nest, hut as 
soon as I reached the tree she flew off 
and joined the male in begging me to 
leave their treasures alone. Harden¬ 
ing my heart, like Pharoah of old, I 
went on, and saw that the nest was 
precisely like that of the Mockingbird, 
This surprised me very 'much, for all 
the nests of the Redbird that I have 
ever seen were small, and composed 
almost entirely’ of grass. On reaching 
the uest it was plain to see that it was 
lormerl}^ the home of a pair of 
Mockingbirds, because it was lined 
with grass roots, which is an infallible 
characteristic of its nest. The nest 
contained six eggs, three of the Red- 
bird and three of the Mockingbird. I 
only took one (I do not endorse the 
habit of collecting‘‘sets”) and left. It 
was very much incubated, but I suc¬ 
ceeded in blowing it, and now have it 
in my cabinet. iMy supposition is 
that the nest of the Redbird was de¬ 
stroyed, and the female, being compel¬ 
led to lay, took the first nest she 
happened to come across. 
The Killdeer Plover. 
{ Oxyechu&.. vociferm). 
BY iCRNKST GAMBLE, TECUMSEH, MICH. 
The Killdeer is so called on account 
of its cry, which resembles the word 
killdeer. Thisbii’dis about ten inches 
long; extent of wings, twenty inches; 
])ill -f inches long. The head is quite 
small; neck short; ])ody rathei’ slender; 
wings reaching to the end of the tail; 
feet long and slender. The bill is 
black, and the feet grayish-blue. 
There i^ a black ring around the neck 
and a wide band of the same color on 
the breast. 
The bird is common throughout the 
United States, being most abundant 
inland. They go South in September, 
and return (juite early in the spring. 
I have read that the small flocks, when 
feeding, always post a sentinel to warn 
them of danger, but 1 cannot vouch 
for the truth of this, as I have never 
been able to see it myself. 
Their chief resoi’ts are new-plowed 
fields, the banks of rivers, and ai’ound 
marshy places. They feed chiefly on 
worms, grasshoppei’s and beetles. 
Their flight is strong and rapid, and 
their speed at running is very great. 
When undisturbed, they rim along the 
ground and utter a murmuring note:, 
but when frightened, they take wing 
and have a shrill, harsh cry. 
They begin to liuild about the first 
of Mav,and rear two broods in a season. 
I have found fresh eggs on the 5th 
of May, and the latest set taken was 
on the 8th of July. Their nests are 
very simple, being only a hollow in 
the ground,about the size of one’s hand, 
filled with fine chips or pieces of bark. 
The eggs are four in nundier, of a dark 
clay color thickly spotted with varying 
shades of brown and black. From 
about twenty specimens before me, I 
find the average dimensions to be 1.54 
inches long by 1.12 broad. I’he nest 
and eggs are so near the color of the 
ground that they are veiy hard to find, 
and 1 have walked over a nest several 
times before finding it. A good way 
to find a nest is to go into a ploughed 
field and suddenly fire a gun, when 
the bird will often fly directly from 
the nest. 
