250 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Nest. —In a slight depression lightly lined with dry rootlets and grass tops. 
Eggs: 3 to 4, ground color deep brownish drab, heavily spotted with blackish brown 
mixed with smaller and paler spots, somewhat confluent at the larger end. 
Food. —Grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, beetles, flies, and other insects. 
General Habits. —Uniformity of coloration, absence of black 
bands, streaks, or patches, and its dry upland home distinguish this 
bird, for Doctor Coues points out, the name Mountain Plover is a mis¬ 
nomer, the birds living on the high arid plains. They spend most of 
their time on the ground, Mr. Cameron says, “where they run with 
incredible swiftness, fully twice as fast as a Ivilldeer. When disturbed 
they have a curious habit of collapsing, or shrinking into themselves, 
and stretching their bodies to the full height alternatively (1907, p. 255). 
When a brood of young were being photographed by Mr. E. R. Warren 
the mother tried various wounded birds’ acts, one of which was to lie 
“flat on the ground with wings outspread and flutter them, and then 
flutter along the ground” (1912, p. 90). 
A family that showed surprisingly little fear, perhaps because viewed 
from an automobile, was discovered by Mr. Ligon on the Roswell- 
Portales Highway. In driving along he caught sight of a Plover stand¬ 
ing on a rock under a wire fence. The car was stopped and though 
it was backed up to a point even with the bird and only about forty feet 
from her, she quietly stood her ground. But a less courageous downy 
young stepped out from the shade of a nearby post—it was almost noon 
on a hot sunny day as if starting to run away. Regaining its courage 
after a moment, it stepped back into the short narrow shadow, where two 
other downy young were discovered enjoying the relief from the hot 
sun. After a little the three quietly started out over the green 
grassy ground taking their time and stopping every few feet to look, as 
is the custom of the species. Even when Mr. Ligon got out of the car, 
the mother, though she left her rock, quietly made her way through the 
short weeds, led by the young. When she gave a low call they ran, 
scattering away to a safer distance. But on Mr. Ligon’s return to the 
car, the mother began to quiet the young with her “notes of ease” and 
they soon gathered about her and all seemed content (MS). 
. Additional Litekatuhe.—Bradbury, W. C., Condor, XX, 157-163, 1918 (nest- 
KILLDEER: Oxyechus vociferus voclferus (Linnaeus) 
Plate 24 
Description. Length: 10-11.2 inches, wing 6.2-0.7, tail 3.6-4.1 bill .7-9 
V- 4 ' 1 ' 5 ' IHnd toe absent ’ toes not "’ebbed at base; tail long for a plover’ 
Adults: Upperparts ma.nly brown, lower back ,xump and upper tail coverts conspicuous 
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