Part 2 — Family CHARADRIIDAE, Plovers (continued 2)

By the end of the last century this species had about reached its lowest ebb; it had become scarce where it once abounded; no more big flights occurred; and in many places it was rarely seen. But protective measures came in time to save it from extermination; the stopping of the sale of game and the removal of this species from the game-bird list were badly needed. Since the last move was made the species has shown some signs of recovery. Edwin Beaupre (1917) says that “after an absence of almost 15 years, the golden plover has apparently resumed its migratory visits to eastern Ontario.” Prof. William Rowan (1923) says:

This year has been an exceptional golden-plover year. At the place referred to above, somewhere over a thousand birds were seen on the 20th of May alone, in moving flocks varying in number from 30 individuals to several hundreds. This was evidently not unique; for about the same time I got a report from quite another part of the Province that this species was unusually abundant, while from yet another quarter I got a very good description of the bird in a letter with a request that I name it for the inquirer, a careful bird observer. Her comment was that she had never seen the species before, but that it was, at the time of writing, present on the plowed fields in enormous numbers.

And John T. Nichols tells me that “of recent years there has been a distinct increase” on Long Island. If shooting conditions in its winter home could be controlled, its future would be assured.

Spring.—From its winter home on the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay the golden plover starts early on its long northward migration. Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) noted that—

The northward migration began with a flock of nine seen January 23, 1921, at a little fresh-water pool on the beach near La Paloma, Uruguay; when flushed these passed on to the west. Single individuals were seen near San Vicente, Uruguay, in flight toward the northwest on January 24 and 30. At Lazcano, Uruguay, birds in passage north were seen in early morning on February 7 and 8, and one was recorded February 18 at Rio Negro, Uruguay. On March 8 at Guamini, Buenos Aires, 15 came in at dusk to roost on a little mud bar in company with Hudsonian godwits. The migration seemed almost at an end then, as later I saw only four at Tunuyan, Mendoza, on March 23; and on April 5 only a few were heard calling with other shore birds in flight northward over Tucuman, Tucuman.

The exact route followed through the interior of South America is not definitely known, but it is not known to migrate along either coast of that continent. Austin H. Clark (1905) has advanced the theory that it prefers to fly with a beam wind and that it selects the route over which the prevailing winds will produce this condition. He suggests the following as the probable route:

In returning the birds would first go north (across the prevailing westerlies) until in the vicinity of Buenos Aires and the country just to the west of it, where they would encounter northeasterly winds, which would turn them inland, up the valley of the La Plata and along the plains to the east of the Andes, the course gradually becoming more northerly, and then northeasterly in the area covered by the southeast trades. They would reach the Amazon Valley in its western half, and then under the guidance of the northeast trades fly northwest toward the Isthmus of Panama and Central America. The course from here would be northwest across the trades to Texas and the Mississippi Valley. The birds follow up this valley northward and then, on reaching Canada, fly northwest across the prevailing southwesterly and westerly winds to their breeding grounds in western Arctic America.

Another theory advanced by Prof. Wells W. Cooke (1912), into which the facts seem to fit equally well, is that—

Birds follow that route between the winter and summer homes that is the shortest and at the same time furnishes an abundant food supply. The plover seeks the shortest treeless route overland, and alighting on the coast of Texas travels leisurely over the Mississippi Valley prairies, which are abundantly supplied with food, to the plains of the Saskatchewan, and thence to the Arctic coast. Not until Texas is reached can the movements of the golden plover be definitely traced, and at no place between Peru and Texas has it ever been recorded as common. In fact, the records as they stand are what they should be if the plover escapes the forested regions of northern South America and Central America by a single flight of from 2,000 to 2,500 miles from the valleys of eastern Peru to the treeless prairies of Texas.

The golden plover is practically unknown west of the Rocky Mountains in the spring; it has always been a rare straggler on the Atlantic coast at this season; and even as far east as Ohio it rarely occurs. Its main route is through the prairie regions west of the Mississippi River. I have seen what was probably the last of the migration, during the first week of May, along the coastal prairies of Texas, and have watched the late spring flight in Saskatchewan during the last week in May; probably I missed the heaviest part of the flight in both cases. On May 26 to 28, 1917, while driving about Quill Lake, Saskatchewan, I had a good chance to observe a considerable flight of these beautiful birds, all apparently in full spring plumage. The flocks appeared from the southward during the early forenoon, flying swiftly in ever-changing formations, rising to a height of 30 or 40 feet and then sweeping low close to the ground. They all seemed to follow the same course over the burnt-over prairies and the freshly plowed and harrowed lands near the shore of the lake. Occasionally a flock would stop and scatter about to feed; their black bellies and golden-spangled backs were surprisingly inconspicuous on the black ground and among the yellow stubble. They were very shy and restless, constantly on the move, and if followed up too closely they were on the wing again and soon disappeared over the northern horizon. It was almost impossible to approach them on foot when they were on the ground, though a flock would occasionally fly by within gunshot. One that I shot on the ground was 75 paces away, measured distance. Some of the flocks were accompanied by a few buff-breasted sandpipers.

Professor Rowan (1926) says that in Alberta:

The arrival of this species at our lake is precipitate, for there may be none to-day and hundreds to-morrow. The flocks would appear to arrive by night, for they are there at daybreak, when one usually takes the first walk around. They are not birds of the shore line in the spring, but like the buff-breasted sandpiper, they seem nevertheless chiefly to frequent country adjacent to some large lake. This, together with their mode of arrival, in considerable flocks and evidently at night, suggests that they have traveled a considerable distance from their last stopping place. They stay with us some days and then go in the manner in which they came, en masse. We have no records earlier than May 8 when the birds may first be expected, but the main contingent arrives nearer the 16th or 17th, while by the 23d or 24th they have usually all gone. Their period with us is therefore brief as compared with the majority of shore birds.

The remainder of the journey is quickly completed, for, at Point Barrow, John Murdoch (1885) says:

They are among the earlier waders to arrive, as stragglers generally appear about the 20th to the 25th of May, before there is much bare ground. In 1882 a small party in full breeding plumage, and apparently all males, arrived May 21, but no more arrived until June 11. The tundra was at this time bare only along the edge of the beach, and the ice and snow was not yet gone from the lagoons. This party remained in nearly the same place for a couple of weeks, feeding on small red worms which they found in marshy spots, and all but two of them were taken, although they were very wild.

Along through the first and second week in June they continued to arrive in small parties, and from that time on are quite plenty scattered in pairs and threes all over the tundra. They are very wild and difficult to approach, and very noisy. In addition to their ordinary well-known call note, they have in the breeding season, a loud but very melodious cry of tud’ling! many times repeated, uttered as the bird flies along rather high, with long slow strokes of the wings.

Nesting.—Roderick MacFarlane was very successful in finding nests of golden plover in the Anderson River region and other parts of the Arctic barren grounds. He sent a large number of eggs to Washington and I find in his notes references to over 120 nests, on which some data were given, mostly very brief. He says that “golden plover were in great abundance in the barren grounds, as well as along the Arctic coast. They seldom or never nested in the wooded country, though a few specimens were found on the open plains or commons, which occur on the borders of that tract.” Some of the nests on the Arctic coast were “near the beach” or even “within a few yards of the sea water.” The nests were evidently mere hollows in the open tundra, lined with dead leaves; there were no attempts at concealment, but the protective coloring of the eggs made them very difficult to find. He says that “when a nest of this plover is approached the female invariably gets off it at a quick pace, between a run and a walk, which it continues at short intervals until the intruder be attracted to a distance therefrom, when it flies away. The male generally joins its mate in this.” On a few occasions, when surprised, the bird fluttered away for a short distance, but soon began to run as usual. Often the bird left the nest when the men were 100 yards away from it. Once when they had hunted in vain for an hour and a half, they retired and watched. “After a few minutes she came on at a cautious run, stopping frequently and making occasional excursions in different directions,” and finally settled on the eggs. They found that several of the party had repeatedly passed quite close to, and one had nearly trodden on the eggs. Watching the bird return to the nest, which she generally does within a few minutes, seems to be the best way of finding a nest.

Of the nests found near Point Barrow, Mr. Murdoch (1885) says:

The nest is exceedingly hard to find, although it is not concealed at all, but is simply a depression in the bare black clayey tundra lined with a little dry moss. The only vegetation on this part of the tundra is white and grayish moss, which harmonizes so extraordinarily with the peculiar blotching of the eggs that it is almost impossible to see them unless one knows exactly where to look. A favorite nesting site is on the high banks of the gullies or small streams. No nests were ever found in the grass or in swampy ground.

W. Sprague Brooks (1915) found only one nest near Demarcation Point, Alaska, of which he says:

I found this nest on June 25 with three eggs about one-quarter incubated. The male was on the nest. It took several days to find the nest, for the bird would leave when I was a long way off and begin running about and feeding as though it had nothing else to do. By placing a lump of tundra each day where I first saw the bird I eventually found her nest, a mere depression in some greenish moss which, with scattered bits of brown dead vegetation, harmonized extraordinarily with the eggs.

When the bird saw that its nest was finally discovered it showed great distress and ran toward me until about 20 paces distant, where it stood tottering as if about to fall, with one wing raised over its back. In a short time the bird, with tail down and a wing dragging, would walk slowly from me. As I never followed, the bird would return and totter a while, repeating the same performance several times until secured for the proper identification of the eggs.

Eggs.—The golden plover’s normal set is of four eggs, but MacFarlane collected many sets of three and one of five. These are quite uniformly ovate pyriform in shape and have only a slight gloss. The ground colors vary from “cinnamon buff” or “light pinkish cinnamon” to “light buff,” “cartridge buff,” or “cream color,” hence more buffy or less olivaceous or grayish than in eggs of the black-bellied plover. They are boldly and profusely marked, more or less irregularly, with large and small spots and irregular blotches of very dark browns or black, “Vandyke brown,” “clove brown,” and brownish black. Sometimes there are a few underlying small spots of “drab gray.” The measurements of 143 eggs in the United States National Museum average 47.5 by 32.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 56 by 31, 50 by 34.5, 42 by 34, and 46 by 30 millimeters. Both sexes incubate. The period of incubation for the European species is said to be 27 days.

Plumages.—In the downy young golden plover the forehead, crown, back, wings, rump, and thighs are mottled with bright “wax yellow” and black, the yellow being mainly at the tips of the down. A broad patch under the eye, extending back to the ears, and the chin, are white; a spot in front of the eye and an indistinct band above it, the hind neck and the throat are yellowish white, the hind neck being mottled with black; a broad band from the lores to the nape is pale yellow, mottled with black. The remaining under parts are grayish white.

In fresh juvenal plumage, on the breeding grounds, the crown and all the upper parts are brownish black, the feathers tipped or heavily notched with bright yellow, “light cadmium” to “buff-yellow,” brightest on the rump; the wing coverts are pale sepia, notched paler yellow or white; the breast is pale drab, barred, spotted or notched with pale dusky and dull yellow, “mustard yellow” to “Naples yellow”; the belly is white, partially barred with pale dusky; and the tail feathers are sepia, indistinctly barred with darker sepia and tipped with dull yellow. By the time that young birds reach us on migration in September, the bright yellows of the upper parts have faded considerably, and the duller yellow on the breast has disappeared entirely. This plumage is not molted until after the birds leave us; late in the fall, November or later, a partial molt of the body plumage produces the first winter plumage, which can be distinguished from the adult only by the juvenal tail and some retained scapulars and tertials. What happens the next spring we have not the material to show. Most of the birds that we see here in the spring are in fully adult nuptial plumage, but I have seen quite a number of birds, some taken on their breeding grounds, that showed, more or less, old, worn, winter plumage; these may be young birds in their first nuptial plumage.

The postnuptial molt of adults begins with the body molt in August, the new pale drab and whitish feathers of the winter plumage appearing first in the black under parts; this molt continues through September while the birds are migrating. But the primaries are not molted until winter, November to February. In winter the plumage of the under parts is very pale drab, shading off to almost pure white on the chin and belly; the adult tail is irregularly barred with dusky and grayish or yellowish white; the feathers of the mantle are brownish black, narrowly edged with yellow, not notched or spotted as in spring. The prenuptial molt of the body plumage begins in March and lasts until May in some individuals; many old winter feathers are often found in breeding birds, especially in the wing coverts, scapulars, tertials and back. The beautiful nuptial plumage is too well known to need description here.

Food.—The favorite feeding grounds of the golden plover are rolling pasture lands where the grass is short or scanty, prairies, plains, plowed lands and occasionally open sand or mud flats. Its food consists almost entirely of insects, chiefly Orthoptera which abound in the pasture lands. It is said to feed mainly on grasshoppers, but George H. Mackay (1891), who is very familiar with it, says that he has never seen it eat any, though he has watched it through a strong glass near at hand. He says:

I have also examined the stomachs of a good many which I have shot on Nantucket, and have never found any grasshoppers in them, nor in fact anything but crickets (which seem their principal food there), grass seeds, a little vegetable matter, like seaweed, coarse sand, and small stones. I have also frequently shot them with the vent stained purple, probably from the berries of the Empetrum nigrum.

They must find abundant food in the north, for they are always very fat when they arrive here. The large numbers of grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, and other insects that they destroy make them very beneficial birds to the farmers of the west, where they also do much good by eating the grubs, cutworms, and wireworms on freshly plowed lands, their favorite resorts in spring. On the shores and open flats they find some small mollusks and crustaceans. The crops of two which Lucien M. Turner collected in northern Ungava were filled with ripening berries of Empetrum nigrum and remains of spiders. Hantzsch found them eating beetles and caterpillars on Baffin Island.

Behavior.—The flight of the golden plover is exceedingly swift, strong and protracted, as it must be to make such wonderful migrations. Over the prairies the flocks sweep along in compact and ever changing formations, skimming close to the ground at times and then rising high in the air, frequently whistling as they go. William Brewster (1925) has described their flight, as seen at Umbagog Lake, Maine, as follows:

They habitually flew faster than any of the other waders and perhaps more swiftly than any of the ducks except the hooded merganser. Their long, pointed wings, lifting high and cutting deep at each stroke, beat rapidly and ceaselessly, yet so easily and smoothly as to indicate comparatively slight muscular effort. If they happened to pass near at hand or overhead their flight was likely to impress one as having not only exceeding speed but irresistible momentum, also as of solid projectiles, hurtling through the air. Seen at a distance they appear to be moving more slowly and looked not unlike passenger pigeons.

When preparing to alight the flocks often perform extensive evolutions, circling and turning, as they sweep about over the ground, as if selecting a satisfactory landing place. When a suitable spot is chosen, they all alight in a compact bunch, raising their wings high above their backs before folding them, and soon scatter over the ground to feed. When on the ground they are very active, running rapidly and gracefully, stopping suddenly to look around, with head held high, and then striking quickly at some morsel of food. Mr. Mackay (1891) says:

When scattered over considerable ground, as is usual after they have been any length of time on their feeding ground, every bird apparently on its own hook, if alarmed, a note is sounded; they then rise so as to meet as soon as possible at a common center, which gained, away they go in a compact body. During the middle of the day they are fond of seeking the margins of ponds, where they sit quietly for a long time, if undisturbed. When disturbed they are almost certain to return, in a short time, to the same spot from which they have been started, that is, if they have been resting or feeding there any length of time. When suspicious, it is very difficult to approach, decoy, or call them; if not harassed, they are as a rule quite tame and gentle, and can be easily driven up to with horse and wagon.

Voice.—John T. Nichols says in his notes:

The flight note of the golden plover in migration is a far-reaching que-e-e-a, with a quaver in the middle and falling at the end. Though with a thrilling plover quality it at the same time has an affinity to the killdeer’s cry, being less mellow and whistled than the note of the blackbelly, which it also suggests, reversed.

Mr. Mackay (1891) says that when these birds are approaching decoys every bird seems to be whistling “a note like coodle, coodle, coodle.” Mr. Forbush (1912) calls its note “a plaintive too-lee-e,” or “a bright whistle, queep-quee-lee-leep.” Others have given different renderings of some of the above notes.

Field marks.—The bird with which the golden plover is most likely to be confused is the black-bellied plover, but the golden is a smaller, more slender, bird, with a generally darker appearance. When seen in flight the tone of the tail is very dark and the axillars, under the wings, are grey, whereas in the black-bellied the tail is decidedly whitish and the axillars are very conspicuously black in all plumages; furthermore the black-bellied has a conspicuous light wing bar, which is lacking in the golden. The notes of the two are quite different. When in hand the golden is seen to have no hind toe. Mr. Nichols suggests that the golden has a swifter, more buoyant flight, suggestive of the killdeer.

Fall.—Mr. Murdoch (1885) refers to the beginning of the migration as follows:

The nesting season continues till the first or middle of July, about which time the adults begin to collect in flocks, feeding together around the ponds on the higher tundra, associated sometimes with a few knots or a struggling curlew. The old birds leave for the south about the end of July, and no more plovers are to be seen until about the middle of August, when the young, who heretofore have been keeping out of sight, scattered over the tundra, gather into flocks, and for several days are quite plenty on the dryer hills and banks, after which they depart. Stragglers may be seen up to the end of August.

The main trend of the fall migration is southeastwards, mainly west and south of Hudson Bay, but perhaps across it also, to the Atlantic coast, mostly north of New England. In favorable weather the flight is over the ocean from Nova Scotia to South America over, or to the eastward of, Bermuda, and the Lesser Antilles. Mr. Clark (1905) figures out that this is the course they would take, if they flew with a beam wind, across the prevailing winds. Of their course after landing in British Guiana, he says:

From this point their course is not accurately known; but if we apply this theory, they would follow down the northeastern tributaries of the Amazons until they came within the influence of the southeast trades, which would carry them southwest, over central Amazonia toward Peru and Bolivia. Somewhat northwest of the Matto Grosso region, the birds would come under the influence of the easterly winds on the southern border of the trades, which would turn them south, and gradually (as they became more northeasterly) southeast, which would bring the plover into the prairie region of the Argentine. Here the prevailing westerlies of the pampas region would be felt, and the birds would, under their influence, continue down the eastern part of Patagonia toward Tierra del Fuego.

To add strength to his theory he says that there are specimens in the British Museum from Mount Roraima and the Maroni River, Surinam, and from Peru taken in September and October.

Some birds on the fall migration wander as far north and east as Baffin Island and northeastern Labrador. Lucien M. Turner refers in his notes to several adults which he saw and two which he collected, near the mouth of the Koksoak River, between July 24 and August 19, 1882; and I have a specimen in my collection taken near Hopedale, Labrador, a young bird. Hantzsch found this plover breeding on Baffin Island.

Edwin Beaupre (1917) writes:

In September, 1906, a great flight of plover passed over the city of Kingston, which is located on the extreme eastern end of Lake Ontario. The flight was first noticed about 8 o’clock in the evening, and to one familiar with the soft, sweet piping of the golden plover, there was no difficulty whatever in recognizing the bird. A record of the flight showed that eight flocks passed over the city, flying very low, at intervals of about 10 minutes. Toward midnight it was impossible to enumerate the flocks, the flight being continuous. This must have been the main migration for that year, and it continued until 4 o’clock in the morning, covering eight hours. Allowing a speed of 25 miles an hour—a conservative estimate—the distance between the leading flocks and the rear guard must have been approximately 200 miles. What a sublime spectacle this would have been had one the privilege of seeing it in the open light of day! The vanguard of this great aerial aggregation must have reached almost to the Atlantic seaboard, while the rear flocks were trailing their wonderful way over the eastern waters of Lake Ontario. They no doubt began their ocean journey some miles south of the coast of Nova Scotia, but not far enough to seriously affect their regular route to Argentina, in which country they escape the hardship of a Canadian winter.

The above quotation and the fact that William Brewster (1925) recorded the golden plover as visiting the Umbagog Lake region in Maine “regularly and rather plentifully not so many years ago,” suggests the idea that some of the birds we used to see in New England came by an overland route. However, our big flights were probably birds that came in from the sea under stress of bad weather, either before or during easterly storms accompanied by heavy rains or thick fog. According to Mr. Mackay’s (1891) records, covering a period of 32 years from 1858 to 1890, the last week in August seems to be the best time to look for a flight, though he says “it is unusual to see any but scattering birds before the 10th of September.” My earliest record for adult birds is August 9; practically all the birds which come in August are adults. The young birds come in September; my latest date is October 7. The appearance of either adults or young on our coast has always been very uncertain and irregular, dependent on the necessary weather conditions coming at the proper time.

Mr. Mackay (1891) says:

While I have continually shot the young birds on Nantucket, and in other parts of Massachusetts, their arrival is a much more uncertain event than that of the older birds, there being some years when I have seen none, and others only a few. I have never known a year when they were anything like as numerous as I have seen the older birds.

During some years large flocks of golden plover pass over the Bermudas in September and October, according to Capt. Savile G. Reid (1884), “but, unless in stormy weather, they do not alight in any great numbers. Numbers appeared in September, 1874, frequenting the grassy slopes of the north shore—their favorite haunt—and even the parade grounds, during the continuance of a three day’s revolving gale.”

Col. H. W. Feilden (1889) writing of conditions in Barbados, the easternmost of the West Indies, says:

Stragglers arrive as early as July and the beginning of August, but the main flights come with the first heavy weather after the 27th of August, and long experience and observation proves that this date is kept year after year with wonderful accuracy. The course of all the migratory Charadriidae across Barbados in the autumn is from the northwest to southeast, and if the wind blows from southeast the birds are brought down to the island, for it appears to be a tolerably well established observation that birds prefer migrating with a “beam” wind. A shift of wind from the northeast, with squally weather to the southeast, is ardently longed for by the Barbados sportsmen toward the end of August, as this forces the migratory hosts to alight instead of passing over at a great height, as they are seen to do when the wind is from the northeast. The first arrivals of this species are invariably black-breasted birds, showing that the old birds precede the young, and the first comers are nearly all males. The young birds without black on the breast appear about the 12th of September, and continue to pass till the end of October, sometimes stragglers are as late as November. Even in the most favorable seasons, only a fraction of the immense flights that pass over the island ever alight.

Much has been written about the Atlantic flight of the golden plover and remarkably little has been said about the southward flight in the interior, but such a flight occurs regularly, though in much smaller numbers. Professor Rowan (1926) says that in Alberta:

We have notes of hundreds going south in a single day in mid September, when the main movements occur annually. An interesting feature of the fall migration of golden plover is that it consists entirely of young birds. The earliest record we have is August 18 and the next August 24. These are rather early, September being the chief month of arrival. The fall movements are protracted, and we may have small flocks with us till toward the end of October. Another feature of the autumn migration is a change of habit. The birds, while often noted on pasture (particularly if in large flocks) more usually frequent the muds and behave like the majority of other waders. They associate freely and habitually with other species. They behave like the strays of the spring. Being birds of the year there is no doubt in their case that they are sexually undeveloped.

We have a single record of an adult bird in the fall collected by Harrold on August 22. It was noted the previous day, but not secured, and proved to be a female well advanced in its moult. There is one other reliable autumn record for an adult golden plover from the Province, seen at Sullivan Lake in July by Mr. T. E. Randall. Until we have spent the whole of July at our lake or some other suitable observation station, it will be impossible to say that adults never—except accidentally as strays—come south through the Province, but all evidence available indicates that they do not do so.

I can not wholly agree with Professor Rowan’s evident belief that all the birds that migrate through the interior are young birds and that very few young birds take the Atlantic route. However, the dates given by numerous observers in the Mississippi Valley and in Texas would seem to indicate that they were nearly all referable to young birds, as they are generally late dates. The main migration route for both adults and young is evidently the Atlantic route; the species is comparatively rare in the interior, south of Canada. It is still rarer on its southward migration along the Pacific coast; the dates are mostly late, probably for young birds; D. E. Brown has sent me two records from Washington. October 7, 1917, Gray’s Harbor County, and November 14, 1915, Clallam County. Apparently most of the adults take the Atlantic route; the young birds are spread out over the whole country, but are much more inclined to the eastern route.

Game.—The golden plover has been a famous game bird. It was a most desirable table bird, as it was usually very fat and its flesh had a delicious flavor on account of its clean, upland feeding habits. The uncertainty of its appearance and its enormous numbers at favorable times made its pursuit most interesting. During the years of its abundance it was slaughtered in almost incredible numbers. Audubon (1840) writes:

While at New Orleans, on the 16th of March, 1821, I was invited by some French gunners to accompany them to the neighborhood of Lake St. John to witness the passage of thousands of these birds, which were coming from the northeast and continuing their course. At the first appearance of the birds early in the morning, the gunners had assembled in parties of from 20 to 50 at different places, where they knew from experience that the plovers would pass. There stationed, at nearly equal distances from each other, they were sitting on the ground. When a flock approached, every individual whistled in imitation of the plover’s call note, on which the birds descended, wheeled, and, passing within 40 or 50 yards, ran the gauntlet, as it were. Every gun went off in succession, and with such effect that I several times saw a flock of a hundred or more reduced to a miserable remnant of five or six individuals. The game was brought up after each volley by the dogs, while their masters were charging their pieces anew. This sport was continued all day, and at sunset, when I left one of these lines of gunners, they seemed as intent on killing more as they were when I arrived. A man near the place where I was seated had killed 63 dozens. I calculated the number in the field at 200, and supposing each to have shot 20 dozen, 48,000 golden plovers would have fallen that day.

John C. Cahoon (1888) describes a method of shooting golden plover employed by old gunners on Cape Cod, as follows:

Several weeks before the time for the flights to occur, they go to an old field or pasture that they know the birds usually come into and burn off the old grass and bushes for quite a space. Then a hole is dug large enough for one or two persons to sit in comfortably, with only the top of their heads above the surface. In a few weeks the grass springs up and the green patch is easily distinguished from its duller surroundings by the plover flying about, and they are sure to come to this place. The gunner, with his decoys out, sits in his pit with only the top of his head out, which is covered with a green cap. A flock, before alighting to the decoys, will usually circle about several times, often flying directly over the gunner’s head only a few yards away. An experienced gunner will not shoot when they are so near and scattered, as he could kill but one or two, but will wait for them to bunch at the right distance, which they are sure to do while turning, and seize that opportunity to fire, killing many at one shot.

Mr. Mackay (1891) says: “They are extremely gregarious, and I have had the same flock return to my decoys as many as four times after some of their number had been shot each time.” This remark probably refers to adult birds, which come readily to decoys or in response to skillful whistling; I have seen a single bird whistled up from so far away that it was hardly visible. Professor Rowan (1926) says that he has “found it practically impossible to whistle them within gun range.” He probably refers to young birds, of which Mr. Mackay (1891) writes:

These young birds invariably appear wild and wary, much more so than the old ones. They are also very erratic in their movements and flight when with us. They usually will not pay so much attention to the decoys or call whistle as do the old birds; and I have seen them, when very shy and after being disturbed, mount up into the air and nearly turn over on their backs while flying with great velocity. It is a noteworthy fact that when a flock of these young birds is approaching no dependence can be placed on their movements. They may sometimes sweep down within a few yards of the sportsman, passing with great rapidity over his head, all scattered; or down close to the stand and then up into the air; or they may turn suddenly. My experience has taught me not to wait, as is my custom with the older birds, to get them together before shooting, but fire at them whenever and wherever I can if they are within range. The older birds rarely indulge in any similar antics.

During the days of spring shooting in the west golden plover were often shot, without decoys, by making a blind or selecting some natural hiding place within their regular fly ways, which were generally quite well established and known. It was always difficult to stalk them on foot, but where there were no fences they could be stalked successfully by a hunter on horseback or in a wagon.

Winter.—The golden plover arrive in their winter home early in September, or rarely late in August, where they remain until February or March. W. H. Hudson (1920) writing of the days when these birds were plentiful, says:

The American golden plover is abundant and well known to every one by its native name, Chorlo, throughout southern Argentina. Its wild, clear notes are first heard about the last week in August, and among the first comers many individuals are seen still wearing the nuptial dress. After their long journey from the Arctic regions they are lean and not worth shooting; two months later they become excessively fat, and are then much appreciated by gourmets. But although so regular in their arrival, they do not regularly visit the same localities every season; the bird may be abundant in a place one year and scarce or absent altogether the next. During the spring, from September to December, they prefer open plains with short grass and in the neighborhood of wet or marshy ground; at the end of December, when the giant thistle (Carduus mariana), which often covers large areas of country, has been burnt up by the sun and blown to the ground, they scatter about a great deal in flocks of from one to four or five hundred. At noon, however, they all resort to a lagoon or marshy place containing water, congregating day after day in such numbers that they blacken the ground over an area of several acres in extent, and at a distance of a quarter of a mile the din of their united voices resembles the roar of a cataract. As population increases on the pampas these stupendous gatherings are becoming more and more rare. Twenty-five years ago it was an exceptional thing for a man to possess a gun, or to use one when he had it; and if Chorlos were wanted a gaucho boy with a string a yard long with a ball of lead attached to each end could knock down as many as he liked. I have killed them in this way myself, also with the bola perdida—a ball at the end of a long string thrown at random into a cloud of birds.

Doctor Wetmore (1926) saw golden plover on migration in Paraguay during September; they “came to the open shores of lagoons with other sandpipers, but were more often seen in flocks of 30 or 40 scattered over open savannas where the grass was not too long.” He saw them also in Argentina during November and December, where they seemed “to be restricted during the resting period to the better watered grass-grown eastern pampa.”

Again (1927) he says:

The golden plover in the south has been most common on open plains, but ranges to some extent on the mud flats of the coast. It is in this last area that the species may be expected to survive as the pampas become more closely occupied by man. These birds are hunted extensively and so many have been killed both in the north and south that their numbers have been greatly reduced. Though recorded in its nesting range as only fairly common at best, the region where the golden plover is found at this season is extensive, so that the number of birds in existence is still considerable. Careful watch should be kept on its abundance.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—North and South America, accidental in Europe.

Breeding range.—The breeding range of the American golden plover has not been definitely separated from that of its western relative (Pluvialis d. fulva). It has, however, been found that in Alaska fulva is more nearly confined to the northwestern coastal regions, while dominica is in the interior and on the northern coast.

The breeding range may be defined as extending north to Alaska (Point Barrow, Collinson Point, and Demarcation Point); Baffin Island (Kangianga, Tikerakdjuak, and Kangidli); and Franklin (Walker Bay, Bay of Mercy, Winter Harbor, Wellington Channel, and probably Igloolik). East to Baffin Island; Franklin (probably Igloolik and Winter Island); and northeastern Keewatin (Whale Point). South to Keewatin (Whale Point); Mackenzie (Casba River, Lac de Gras, Bernard Harbor, Rendezvous Lake, Fort Anderson, and Fort McPherson); and Alaska (Gens de Large Mountains, Beaver Mountains, and probably Nushagak). West to Alaska (probably Nushagak and Point Barrow).

It also has been detected in summer in Greenland (Jacobshavn and Godthaab), but there is no evidence of breeding in that region.

Winter range.—The winter range of the American golden plover extends north to rarely Chile (Arica); and rarely Brazil (Villa Maria, Matto Grosso, and Rio de Janeiro). East to rarely Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina); Uruguay (Montevideo); and Argentina (La Plata, Cape San Antonio, and Bahia Blanca). South to Argentina (Bahia Blanca, Sierra de la Ventana, Carhue, and Mendoza). West to western Argentina (Mendoza); and rarely Chile (Arica). On rare occasions individuals may pass the winter season at more northern points as Nauta, Peru (Sharpe), and Old Harbor, Costa Rica (Carriker). Winter occurrences at other northern localities probably refer to crippled birds or erroneous identifications.

Migration.—The main migration route of the American golden plover is of an elliptical nature. In late summer, after the breeding season, the birds move southeast across northern Canada to the coasts of Labrador and Nova Scotia, from which points they fly, apparently without stopping, to the northeast coast of South America, passing thence through the interior to the pampas region of Argentina. The northward flight in spring is made farther west, through Central America, up the Mississippi Valley to the prairie Provinces of Canada.

Individuals and small flocks are, of course, noted more or less regularly in both spring and fall, both on the Atlantic coast and in the interior, but the main route should be borne in mind when considering the following dates of arrival and departure.

Spring migration.—Early dates of arrival in the spring are: Porto Rico, Mameyes, February 16; Bermuda, March 9, 1852 (only spring record); New York, Long Island City, April 17, and Fair Haven Light, May 3; Massachusetts, Revere, March 6, and Somerville, March 20; Nova Scotia, Pictou, May 17; Quebec, Godbout, May 31; Franklin, Igloolik, June 14; Louisiana, New Orleans, March 16, Avery Island, March 28; and West Baton Rouge, April 2; Arkansas, Fayetteville, March 20; Missouri, St. Louis, March 23, Kansas City, April 11, and Kings Lake, April 12; Illinois, Mount Carmel, March 12, Lebanon, March 17, and Chicago, March 22; Indiana, Terre Haute, March 22, Greencastle, March 28, and Muncie, March 30; Ohio, Sandusky, March 26, West Liberty, April 2, and Columbus, April 4; Michigan, Pittsfield, April 20; Iowa, Scranton, March 25, Newton, March 27, and Keokuk, April 14; Wisconsin, Clinton, April 9, and Racine, April 14; Minnesota, Heron Lake, April 12, Waseca, April 21, and Wilder, April 24; Texas, Gainesville, March 7, Mont Belvieu, March 8, Boerne, March 9, and Indianola, March 15; Oklahoma, Caddo, March 11; Kansas, Richmond, March 22, Lawrence, March 29, Manhattan, April 4, and Emporia, April 18; Nebraska, Kearney, April 8; South Dakota, Fort Sisseton, April 13, Huron, April 25, and White, April 26; North Dakota, Larimore, May 2, and Grafton, May 3; Manitoba, Aweme, April 23, Treesbank, May 1, Portage la Prairie, May 8, and Margaret, May 8; Saskatchewan, Osler, May 8, and Indian Head, May 9; Mackenzie, Fort Simpson, May 15, and Fort Resolution, May 23; Alberta, Alliance, May 5, Mundare, May 12, Camrose, May 7, and Red Deer, May 9; and Alaska, Beaver Mountains, April 29, Sitka, May 5, Flat, May 11, Fort Reliance, May 13, Fairbanks, May 17, and Point Barrow, May 21.

Late dates of spring departure are: Argentina, Rio Negro, February 18, Mendoza, March 23, and Tucuman, April 5; Guatemala, Duenas, April 12; Louisiana, Avery Island, May 3, and Breton Island, May 13; Kentucky, Crab Orchard, May 10; Missouri, Hunnewell, May 18, and Boonville, May 31; Illinois, Addison, May 10, Rantoul, May 12, and Chicago, May 17; Indiana, Lebanon, May 23; and Michigan City, June 2; Ohio, Sandusky, May 19, Bay Point, May 23, and Wauseon, May 27; Iowa, Gilbert Station, May 16, Cedar Rapids, May 17, and Clear Lake, May 20; Wisconsin, Racine, May 4, and Madison, May 30; Minnesota, Hallock, May 20, Wilder, May 22, and Twin Valley, May 30; Texas, Corpus Christi, April 28, Gainesville, May 12, and Point Isabel, May 15; Kansas, Manhattan, May 4, Paola, May 7, and Lawrence, May 8; Nebraska, Valentine, May 25; South Dakota, Sioux Falls, May 23, White, May 25, and Harrison, May 27; North Dakota, Devils Lake, May 23, Jerusalem, June 1, and Larimore, June 7; Manitoba, Aweme, May 29, Margaret, June 3, and Shoal Lake, June 6; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 22, Winston, May 29, and Churchill River, June 2; Colorado, Denver, May 17; Alberta, Mundare, May 26, Sedgewick, May 30, and Fort Chipewyan, June 1; and British Columbia, between Shusicap Falls and Mabel Lake, May 29 (only spring record).

Fall migration.—Early dates of arrival in the fall are: British Columbia, Graham Island, July 27, Sumas Lake, August 19, and Chilliwack, August 26; Keewatin, Cape Eskimo, August 4; Manitoba, Aweme, August 6, Shoal Lake, August 21, and Margaret, August 27; North Dakota, Fort Berthold, September 16; South Dakota, White, September 12, great bend of the Missouri River, September 18, and Harrison, September 20; Nebraska, Nebraska City, August 3, and Ames, August 22; Minnesota, St. Vincent, August 29, and Hibbing, September 13; Ontario, Toronto, August 25, and Brighton, August 28; Michigan, Houghton, September 5, Charity Island, September 9, and Detroit, September 10; Ohio, Columbus, August 23, New Bremen, September 1, Youngstown, September 2, and Cleveland, September 8; Indiana, Waterloo, August 25, and Lebanon, September 29; Illinois, Rantoul, August 6, Glen Ellyn, September 10, and Chicago, September 13; Louisiana, mouth of Mermentau River, August 11; Mississippi, Bay St. Louis, September 26; Newfoundland, St. George Bay, August 17; Quebec, Gaspe Peninsula, August 29, and Montreal, August 31; Prince Edward Island, Malpeque, August 23; New Brunswick, Scotch Lake, August 21; Nova Scotia, Sable Island, August 20; Maine, Portland, August 12; Massachusetts, Ipswich, July 18, Plymouth, August 7, Nantucket, August 12, Cape Cod, August 15, and Monomoy Island, August 18; Rhode Island, Newport, August 12, and Kingston, August 19; Connecticut, Bridgeport, August 14, and Guilford, August 27; Rhode Island, Point Judith, August 21; New York, Montauk Light Station, August 9, Long Island City, August 12, Syracuse, August 22, and Shinnecock Bay, August 29; New Jersey, Great Bay, July 19; Cuba, Guantanamo, September 30; Lesser Antilles, Barbados, July 24, Grenada, August 24, St. Croix, August 31, and Sombrero, September 2; British Guiana, Auni, August 30; and Paraguay, Puerto Pinasco, September 6. Specimens also have been detected at Bermuda as early as July 25 (Hamilton).

Late dates of departure in the autumn are: Alaska, Nome, September 14, Baranof Island, September 18, Kenai River, October 7, and St. George Island, October 18 (there is a strong possibility that all of these Alaskan records refer to the Pacific form, Pluvialis d. fulva); British Columbia, East Kootenay, October 13, Chilliwack, October 14, and Comox, November 4; Alberta, Edmonton, September 23, delta of the Athabaska River, October 10, and Beaverhill Lake, October 22; Montana, Terry, September 23, and St. Marys Lake, October 1; Wyoming, Rock Creek, October 25; Colorado, Newcastle, October 5; Mackenzie, Manito Islands, September 14, Lower Slave River, September 29, and Fort Liard, October 5; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, October 2, and Quill Lake, October 11; Manitoba, Aweme, October 16; South Dakota, Fort Pierre, October 21, and Fort Sisseton, October 26; Nebraska, Lincoln, November 14; Kansas, Emporia, October 22, and Lawrence, October 23; Minnesota, Madison, October 22, St. Vincent, October 26, and Lanesboro, November 2; Iowa, Bronson, November 9, and Keokuk, November 9; Ontario, Toronto, October 23, Brighton, November 3, and Ottawa, November 4; Michigan, Gibraltar, October 12, Mainstee, October 17, and Detroit, November 4; Ohio, New Bremen, October 23, Painesville, October 31, and Youngstown, November 11; Indiana, English Lake, November 15; Illinois, Morgan Park, October 28, Hinsdale, November 4, and Urbana, November 8; Arkansas, Crocketts Bluff, October 22; Greenland, August 7; Franklin, Baffin Bay, September 3; Quebec, Koksoak River, September 19, Kamouraska, October 19, Montreal, November 8, and Quebec City, November 10; Nova Scotia, Sable Island, October 22, and St. Marys Bay, October 23; Maine, Lewiston, October 16, and Portland, November 15; Vermont, Wells River, October 14; Massachusetts, Monomoy Island, October 13, Plymouth, October 24, and Provincetown, November 19; Rhode Island, South Auburn, October 12, and Newport, October 24; Connecticut, West Haven, October 25, and Hartford, October 24; New York, Ithaca, October 29, Rockaway, October 30, Orient Point, November 5, and Auburn, November 8; Bahamas, Cay Lobos, October 25; Porto Rico, Anegada Lagoon, November 4; West Indies, Barbados, December 7; and Costa Rica, San Jose, December 15.

Casual records.—South of New Jersey on the Atlantic coast, this species has been recorded on a few occasions, among which are: District of Columbia, Washington, one about 1860; Virginia, Smiths Island, September 28, 1897, and Wallops Island, several occurrences between August 12 and October 3 (Warren); North Carolina, several records in spring between April 15 (Waterlily), and May 10 (Currituck), and in fall between August 29 (Martins Point), and September 29 (Churchs Island); South Carolina, Chester County, September 19, 1877, Christ Church Parish, November 27, 1912, and Charleston, November 4, 1911, and December, 1880; and Florida, Miakka, November 19, 1901, and December, 1900.

On the Pacific coast of the United States it is only casual: Washington, several records in the fall between September 9 (Port Townsend), and November 14 (Dungeness); Oregon, Netarts Bay, September 7, 1912; and California, Playa del Rey Lagoon, October 4, 1923, Santa Cruz, October 22, 1888, and possible at Coronado, January 12–20, 1908 (Torrey). Suckley reported it from the vicinity of San Francisco, and Kobbe from Menlo Park and Vallejo, but both of these records are indefinite.

The American golden plover has been obtained a few times in Great Britain, Essex, August, 1896, Perthshire, August, 1883, Leadenhall Market, fall of 1882, and Mayo County, September, 1894; while a single specimen was taken on Heligoland, December 20, 1847.

Egg Dates.—Arctic coasts of Alaska and Canada: 176 records, June 1 to July 15; 88 records, June 25 to July 2.

PLUVIALIS DOMINICA FULVA (Gmelin)

PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER

HABITS

The Pacific golden plover is a smaller and more brightly colored subspecies of the American golden plover. It breeds on the Arctic coast of Siberia from the Yenesei River to Bering Strait and on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. On the coast of Alaska north of Bering Strait it intergrades with the American form, and there is some evidence that it intergrades or hybridizes with the European golden plover at the western end of its range. It is known as the Asiatic or eastern golden plover by European writers. It winters from India and China to Australia, New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands, and many other islands in the southern Pacific Ocean.

Spring.—This plover makes even more wonderful migratory flights than its American relative, for between its winter and its summer homes it travels twice each year over thousands of miles of trackless ocean; many individuals may become lost or perish, but the majority of them seem to find their way by some marvelous sense of direction. The reader is referred to an excellent paper on the migration of this plover to and from the Hawaiian Islands by Dr. Henry W. Henshaw (1910). Of the spring migration he writes:

During the last two months of their stay in the Islands both the migrating plover and turnstones get very fat, and it is probable that individuals that are not in good condition do not attempt the flight, or if they do do not survive the attempt. Toward April most plover seem to be in full breeding plumage, and I feel sure that none of the birds assuming the breeding dress remain behind unless sick or wounded. There is, however, a small contingent, both of plover and turnstones, that summer in the islands, and these appear to consist wholly of immature individuals, which, as a rule, are thin and not in good trim.

When the time to migrate comes, small parties, from a dozen or even less to flocks of 200 or more, strike boldly out to the northward, apparently without hesitancy or doubt of the result. Mr. Haswell, of Papaikou, which is on the coast about 15 miles north of Hilo, soon after daybreak during the early days of April, 1900, saw several flocks rise to a great height and, after widely circling about a few times as if to orient themselves, finally disappear in a northerly direction.

It is probable, however, that day migration is not the rule with plover and other shore birds. Apparently it is more usual for the flocks to feed by day and leave just before nightfall, as do many other birds in different parts of the world. Mr. R. C. L. Perkins states that several times he “witnessed these departures always late in the afternoon or just before dark.”

How fast the birds fly or how long it takes them to make the 2,000 mile flight across the ocean to the Aleutian Islands, we do not know. If they fly at the rate of 40 miles an hour without stopping, it would take over two days. They probably can not sustain such a prolonged effort without food. Practically all shore birds are known to alight on and arise from the water at will; so the chances are that they stop to rest on the way. They probably obtain some food from floating masses of seaweed, from the refuse left by whales, or from the numerous forms of minute animal life to be found on the surface. These birds have frequently been seen migrating at sea hundreds of miles from land, and one observer has actually seen one resting on the water. Evidence that they do so is furnished by the fact that native gunners in Trinidad, according to some notes sent to me by Julian Lyder, detect the newly arrived birds by a salty taste on the feathers.

The plover leave the Hawaiian Islands during April and May. We have no data as to when they reach the Aleutian Islands, but they arrive in the Commander Islands about the middle of May, and the first arrivals were noted at Nijni Kolymsk, Siberia, on May 30. On the Pribilof Islands they have been known to arrive as early as April 18, but they usually come about the first week in May. A. H. Twitchell tells me that he has seen them at Bethel, Alaska, as early as May 8, and Herbert W. Brandt says in his notes from Hooper Bay:

When the first small flocks of this noble Asiatic visitant appeared on Point Dall on May 16 the receding snow seemed to emphasize its golden splendor. It never became really common like its larger relative, the black-bellied plover, but numerous individuals and small bands were observed which, however, proved to be transients, for they all departed by early June. They usually associated with the gaudily attired ruddy turnstone and the combined lavish color effect of these two feathered gems was lovely indeed to behold. The Eskimos claim that, when seal hunting off Point Dall, they often encountered birds of the present species flying shoreward, so perhaps many of these long-flighted migrants moved directly from the western section of the Aleutian Islands across Bering Sea to their Alaskan summer homes.

Nesting.—Mr. Brandt has sent me the following notes on the nesting habits of this plover:

The breeding realm of the aristocratic golden plover in the Hooper Bay region is confined to a narrow belt on the mountain slopes well above brush line in the Askinuk Range. Here at an altitude of from five to eight hundred feet dwells a pair nearly every half mile, or about the same relative distance apart that the black-bellied plover families maintain between themselves on the tundra below.

The only nest of the Pacific golden plover to come under my observation was found on June 27 at an altitude of 600 feet on the Bimute spur of the Askinuk Range. On this upper mountain slope amid the scattered rocky outcrops exists a grim Arctic flora of mosses and lichens which in patches is mottled black and grayish white. On one of these velvet-like spots a little top moss is removed by the birds so as to make a slight depression in which the four beautiful eggs are placed. The lining of the nest is simply a few short unarranged stems of the reindeer moss that no doubt grew on the site. The nesting cavity is 4 inches in diameter and only half an inch in depth, thus making it notable as perhaps the most meager of the limicoline abodes we found. The parti-colored eggs and their environs blend as one in coloration, so, even in that jaeger-ridden land, they enjoy unusual protective security. The male bird alone was present during my stay in the vicinity of his abiding place and failed to exhibit either the extreme timidity or the agitation so characteristic of the black-bellied plover.

Henry Seebohm (1901) gives the following account of finding a nest near the banks of the Yenesei River in Siberia:

On the top of the bank I found myself on the real tundra. Not a trace of a pine tree was visible, and the birches rarely exceeded 12 inches in height. There was less grass, more moss and lichen, and the ground was covered with patches of yellow mud or clay, in which were a few small stones, that were apparently too barren for even moss or lichen to grow upon. The tundra was hilly, with lakes, swamps, and bogs in the wide valleys and plains. As soon as I reached the flat bogs I heard the plaintive cry of a plover, and presently caught sight of two birds. The male was very conspicuous, but all my attempts to follow the female with my glass, in order to trace her to the nest, proved ineffectual; she was too nearly the color of the ground, and the herbage was too high. Feeling convinced that I was within 30 paces of the nest, I shot the male, and commenced a diligent search. The bird proved to be the Asiatic golden plover, with gray axillaries, and I determined to devote at least an hour looking for the nest. By a wonderful piece of good fortune I found it, with four eggs, in less than five minutes. It was merely a hollow in the ground upon a piece of turfy land, overgrown with moss and lichen, and was lined with broken stalks of reindeer moss. The eggs more resembled those of the golden than those of the grey plover, but were smaller than either.

Miss Maud D. Haviland (1915a) had considerable experience with this plover on the Yenesei and took some excellent photographs of it; she writes:

I first saw a few birds at Dudinka, where they were probably on migration, and afterwards the species was common all the way down to Golchika. Each pair occupied perhaps 2 furlongs of tundra. I should think that every acre of moss and lichen from the Yenesei to the Lena in summer is thus parceled out. Your progress across the tundra in July is heralded and attended by a chorus of plaintive cries. Both birds meet you a quarter of a mile from the nest and never leave you until you are at the boundaries of their own territory, and they can safely hand you over to their next neighbors for espionage. Covert, of course, there is none—but it is needless to say more. The suspiciousness and patience of the golden plover are the same all the world over; and I will not dwell upon them to those who themselves have no doubt walked vainly for half a day about the bird’s breeding grounds in this country and listened to its maddening but at the same time most musical protests.

The first nest was found on July 4. It was a shallow depression, lined with dry lichen haulms on a slope of the tundra. The bird, which must, I think, either have been deaf or else exceedingly stupid, did not move until I was well over the hill and within 60 yards of her, when she jumped up and feigned a broken wing.

Eggs.—The eggs are similar to those of the American golden plover; the ground colors average paler. In three sets they run from “light buff” to “cream color”; Mr. Brandt’s eggs run from “ivory yellow” to “vinaceous buff”; and in two eggs figured by Mr. Poynting (1895) the ground colors are in shades of “olive buff.” Mr. Brandt says in his notes:

The eggs of this bird are no doubt subject to much variation for the two sets are very different. On one the surface markings are distinct and elongated longitudinally while on the other clutch large blotches almost cover the larger end. These spots are brownish black to black where the pigment is rich, but when occasionally it is thin, as on a few outlying edges, it becomes brick red. Pursuant to the usual rule with many of the boldly marked eggs of the shore birds the underlying spots are few and ill defined. These are in lavender tones from pale mouse gray to grayish lavender.

The measurements of 34 eggs average 48 by 33.2 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 51.8 by 32.5, 48.5 by 34.9, 45.2 by 32.4, and 46.4 by 31.5 millimeters.

Young.—The incubation period is probably the same as it is for the European bird, 27 days; both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young. Thayer and Bangs (1914) write:

Mr. Koren watched the habits of the birds closely and found that the males appear to do all the incubating in the early stages, the female at that time never being near the nest. Later on, when the eggs are nearly ready to hatch, she appears again and takes her turn with the male. When the young are hatched, both parent birds are always with them. At Cape Chelakhskai, August 27, 1912, large flocks of young birds were seen ready to migrate.

Miss Haviland (1915a) says:

As soon as the young ones were able to run alone, which, roughly speaking, was about July 20, the birds left the higher ground and began to collect into flocks in the marshy places of the tundra. I am inclined to think that the young birds must need to wash and drink a great deal, as otherwise it is not easy to understand why all the waders of the tundra should leave the nesting sites so early and wander down to the sphagnum swamps. Some of the Asiatic golden plover even crossed the mud hills and came down to the banks of the river.

Plumages.—The downy young Pacific golden plover is like the American bird of the same age except that the yellow is rather brighter, about “lemon chrome,” and decidedly more extensive; it predominates over the black on the crown, back, and rump; there is very little white anywhere except in the patch under the eye and on the chin, throat, and under parts. Miss Haviland (1915a), however, says:

The white tract between the homogeneous mottling of the crown and nape, and the successive black and yellow bands which lie above and behind the eye, and which in C. apricarius is sometimes hardly discernible, is very pronounced in C. fulvus and has enlarged at the expense of the colored bands below it. The nape and upper part of the body are more spotted with white, and there is little or no yellow on the cheek below the eye.

Subsequent plumages and molts are apparently similar to those of the other golden plovers. Doctor Henshaw (1910) writes:

It is of interest to note that in fall this plover migrates before it molts; in spring it molts before it migrates. The first birds to reach the archipelago in August are, as stated, adults, and while they are practically in full breeding dress they begin to molt into the winter dress almost at once. The molting season for the species is long, and many individuals, doubtless birds of the year, may be found the last of December still molting into the fall and winter dress. By the middle of February numerous individuals are already beginning to molt a second time and to assume the distinctive nuptial plumage, which, in the case of these early birds, is practically completed during the month of March, though individuals continue to moult far into April and some no doubt complete the final stages in Alaska. Doubtless the individuals to molt first in spring are the adults which arrive first, and finish the fall molt first; and doubtless, too, these are the birds first to leave Hawaii for their breeding grounds in Alaska. So protracted is the molt of the species that it is probably true that during the stay of this plover in Hawaii—from middle August till May—there is not a month when some individuals are not molting.

There is no reason for believing that the plover summering in the islands which, as before stated, are chiefly if not wholly immature birds, participate in the spring molt. At all events the Hawaiian summer plover and turnstones that I have seen were, without exception, in the winter garb.

Food.—Lucien M. Turner (1886) says that, on their first arrival in Alaska, the plover “feed principally on berries of the Vaccinium and Empetrum, as many of these berries do not dislodge until succeeding growths push them off.” Others have noted the same habit in late summer and early fall. Some observers on the Pribilof Islands have noted that they frequent the killing grounds and feed extensively on the blowfly maggots there. But Preble and McAtee (1923) say that in the two stomachs that they examined “none of these larvæ were found, their food contents consisting of beetles, 72.5 per cent; flies, 22.5 per cent; Hymenoptera, 4 per cent; and seeds of crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), 1 per cent.”

Doctor Henshaw (1910) writes:

During its stay in the islands the plover, as also the turnstone, feed chiefly in the upland pastures and clearings, up to 6,000 or 7,000 feet, and on newly plowed cane land. Both the sugar planter and the stock raiser have much to thank the plover for, since, while the birds feed on small seeds to some extent, they live chiefly on insects, and according to Perkins, on insects of much economic importance, since they depend largely on the caterpillars of two of the most widely spread and destructive of the island “cut worms.” These insects are most abundant when the grass on the island pastures is green and luxuriant, and this usually is in winter, when rains are most copious.

Behavior.—The general behavior of the Pacific golden plover is not different from that of its commoner relatives. My personal acquaintance with it was made on the high rolling tundra and the foothills back of Nome, Alaska. Here we found it quite common during the middle of July, where it was evidently breeding or had been breeding; and we collected quite a series of adults, juvenals, and even downy young. As we walked over the tundra, we frequently heard their rich, melodious, whistling notes, or saw a richly colored adult, in full nuptial plumage, standing like a sentinel on some little hummock or ridge. Occasionally one would try to entice us away by running slowly through the hollows or by fluttering along the ground as if injured; but eventually it would take wing and circle back to where its young were probably hidden.

Mr. Brandt says in his notes:

The Pacific golden plover’s adroit movements in approaching his nest, made to deceive the hostile eye, were interesting, and well illustrate the tactics of the members of the plover family found about Hooper Bay. He would run rapidly without visible bodily effort, and then stop abruptly and remain motionless, not even turning his head. His course always lay across the little ridges, never along them, and he would follow the slight depressions, but usually came to a halt on a little eminence. When close to me, in order to get a wider range of vision, he would raise himself on the terminal joints of his toes and stretch up his neck, all with a jerky motion, the whole reminding me somewhat of the action of the burrowing owl. If agitated he ran rapidly to and fro, uttering an occasional piping note, but seldom taking wing.

Voice.—John T. Nichols describes the notes of this plover very well as follows:

I have met this western race of the golden plover only on its breeding grounds (at Nome, Alaska) where its notes are quite unlike the flight note of the eastern bird in migration, though some have almost an identical quality with that call. Running about on the ground, voicing noisy protest at the invasion of its ground, it has two unlike cries used interchangeably, peep! etc.; toodlee, etc.; the first plaintive, the second mellow. Other less frequent notes are tudleu and tdlu-eep suggesting the semipalmated plover. When the two members of a pair alight together for a moment a note of greeting suggests in form the whip-poor-will’s call, piterweeu, piterweeu, piterwit or peeperwip, peeperweeu, peeperwip.

A different, striking note is associated with what seems to be nuptial display. A bird circles at moderate height waving widespread wings in slow, measured, tern-like manner, meanwhile uttering a loud, long-drawn, sweet pee-er-wee, and in a few minutes dives to the tundra and alights. The form of this call is rather that of the black-bellied plover though its tone is that of the golden.

Miss Haviland (1915a) describes similar notes and observes that, “roughly speaking, the alarm note of the common golden plover is monosyllabic; that of the Asiatic golden plover is dissyllabic; and that of the gray plover is distinctly trisyllabic in character.”

Fall.—The plover which breed in Alaska migrate over Bering Sea, stopping on the Pribilof Islands; the first birds, probably adults, come during August; the young birds come later, mainly in September and October, with one very late date, November 5. The few available dates for the Aleutian and Commander Islands are also late, September and October, probably young birds. The first birds to reach the Hawaiian Islands are adults in breeding plumage; they arrive about the middle or latter part of August; and Doctor Henshaw (1910) says “that they are invariably in good flesh and that some are very fat. Later arrivals, however, no doubt young of the year, are comparatively poor in flesh and require considerable time to fatten.” This flight to these islands is a most remarkable feat, for, even granted that they can rest and feed to some extent on the surface of the ocean, it still remains a mystery how they can find this little group of islands in the middle of such a vast expanse of ocean. Doctor Henshaw (1910) makes some suggestions which throw some light on the subject; he says:

About September the wind that prevails in the North Pacific immediately south of the Aleutians is from the northwest. It is generally believed that migrating birds prefer to fly on a beam wind. By heading southwest, birds migrating to Hawaii might have the northwest abeam till about the neighborhood of latitude 30° where they would be almost sure to pick up the northeast trades. By then changing their course to southeast they would be enabled to fly with wind abeam till they sighted the islands. The Hawaiian Archipelago with the chain of low islands and sand spits to the northwest afford a reasonable chance for a successful landfall, since unitedly they stretch away in a very thin line for some 2,200 miles. Moreover the islands are close enough together so that migrants high in air would not be likely to miss them by passing between.

The birds which breed in Siberia are probably those that migrate through Mongolia and Japan and spend the winter in India, Burma, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia.

Winter.—Maj. G. Ralph Meyer has sent me the following notes on this plover in the Hawaiian Islands:

The plover are very plentiful and I see them passing over every day. They usually arrive about the middle of August and remain until the middle of March. Along about that time of the year they seem to congregate on the flats on the northeast end of the island and probably leave from there on the long flight to Alaska. During the winter they alternate between the plains of the high central plateau of the island and the lowland on both sides of the island. On the east side there is some low grassy land and they are common there. On this side they frequent tide flats during the low tides and then go up into the central plateau during the high tides. They perhaps spend some of the time in sheltered ponds on this side and wherever they can find muddy flats on which to feed.

The call note when flying is usually a whistled too-whee, easily imitated. They answer to the call note very readily and we use this when hunting them. We use plover decoys, placing them in the mud flats during high tide, and then at the turning of the tide the birds come from the direction of the mountains to feed. The decoys are placed on the highest part of the flats, so that the birds will have no other place to alight. We face the decoys up the wind, as the birds usually face that way when they are feeding. As they come near we call to them, merely imitating their call. They will circle around and finally decoy very nicely if they are not alarmed by any sudden movement. When circling around decoys they make a sort of chuckling noise, which I can not describe except as a chuckling whistle. Occasionally a wandering tattler will decoy and very often we get turnstones. On one occasion last year I saw a flock of about 20 to 30 birds, apparently turnstones, flying in a “V” or semicircle formation, and the leader was undoubtedly a plover. The birds were a couple of hundred feet in the air, so I could not be sure of the turnstones, but I was sure of the plover. He was leading them, for they followed him wherever he went. On a visit to Hawaii in July, 1916, I found plover on the slopes of Mauna Loa, one of the high mountains of the island. I have never seen them on this island during the summer.

W. B. Alexander tells me that this plover is—

a common visitor to Australian coasts, especially in summer, though some appear to be present at all seasons. While in Australia this species is usually found in small flocks and is partial to reedy swamps and the margins of lakes, as well as to estuaries fringed with mangroves. In fact, it evidently likes cover, though it may be met with on the open sea beach.

In his notes from Australia, Charles Barrett says:

All parts of the Commonwealth receive their quota of golden plover, and in the southern portions of the country the birds are seen about the end of October (early summer). The species is nowhere very plentiful (A. J. Campbell), but I have seen it often, singly, or in small flocks, in different localities, chiefly along the seashore and on swampy land, seeking small shellfish, etc. Sometimes it associates with the black-bellied plover (Squatarola squatarola). In the Capricorn Group I met with it in fair numbers on the Masthead Island beaches. Like other migrants observed among the isles, the plover were fresh arrivals, and each day their numbers increased. They were in poor condition and seemed to be exhausted after their great migratory flight. Some of the specimens taken by collectors in our party still retained some of the breeding plumage; in one example the breast was almost black.

In New South Wales I observed this species on the sand spits at the sea entrance to Wallis Lake in October, 1921. They were wary, but through field glasses we could see them busily seeking for food. In my own State, Victoria, specimens have been taken both in the summer and winter plumage. The birds frequent open grass country, as well as the seashore; in fact, they are more abundant often in country of this class than elsewhere in a district. Frequently, however, they are seen along river banks and on sea beaches, feeding in company with other species.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—Alaska, Asia, Australia, and Oceania; casual in Europe and on the Pacific coast of North America.

Breeding range.—The Pacific golden plover breed mainly in Siberia but, as mentioned under Pluvialis d. dominica, they range also to western Alaska, where they apparently meet and intergrade with their eastern relatives. The breeding range may be stated as extending north to eastern Siberia (Yenisei River, Cape Chelyuskin, Liakhof Island, Nijni Kolymsk, Cape Baranof, Chaun Bay, and Cape Serdze); and Alaska (Wainwright). East to Alaska (Wainwright, probably Point Hope, probably Cape Blossom, Cape Prince of Wales, Nome, St. Michael, and Igiak Bay). South to Alaska (Igiak Bay); and Siberia (Bering Island, Kamchatka, and the Yenisei River). West to western Siberia (Yenisei River).

Winter range.—The winter range extends north to India, China, Japan, and to Hawaiian Islands (Midway, Kauai, and Maui Islands). East to the Hawaiian Islands (Maui), Polynesia, and New Zealand. South to New Zealand and Tasmania. West to Tasmania, Australia, Melanesia, Java, Borneo, and India.

Migration.—The migration of the Pacific golden plover nesting in Alaska, appears to be entirely oceanic, the flight in both directions being without intermediate stops. Nonbreeding individuals frequently remain all summer in the Hawaiian Islands and at other points in Oceania.

Spring migration.—Early dates of arrival are: China, Soochow, April 18, Shanghai, April 21, and Canton, April 30; Japan, Hakodate, May 7; Siberia, Bering Island, May 15, and Nijni Kolymsk, May 30; and Alaska, St. Michael, May 2, Bethel, May 8, Portage Bay, May 13, Hooper Bay, May 16, and Cape Prince of Wales, May 19.

Fall migration.—Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska, mouth of the Yukon River, October 12, St. Paul Island, October 25, and Attu Island, October 31; and Siberia, Bering Island, October 28.

Casual records.—This species has been reported as a casual from Algeria, Malta, Italy, Spain, Heligoland, Poland, and the British Isles (B. O. U.). In North America, specimens identified as this race, have been collected in British Colombia, Comox, November 2, 3, and 4, 1903, and Masset, August 10, 1920; Washington, Kahlotus, December 19, 1924; Idaho, Lake Chatcolet, October 1, 1923; and Maine, Scarborough, September 11, 1911.

Egg Dates.—Bering Sea coast of Alaska: 15 records, May 23 to July 1; 8 records, June 11 to 27. Siberia: 5 records, June 30 to July 5.

OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS (Linnaeus)

KILLDEER

HABITS

Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend

It may be said of the killdeer that it is probably the most widely distributed and best known of all our shore birds. Unlike most of the group, it is not confined to the borders of lakes and of the sea but is found in meadows, pastures, and dry uplands often many miles from water. Unlike, also, the majority of our shore birds, its sojourn here is not limited to the migration periods, for it breeds and winters throughout a large portion of the United States. It is not of a retiring disposition, and it often makes its presence known by loud calls and cries, to which it owes both its common and scientific names—killdeer and vociferus. Its strikingly marked and handsome plumage makes it very conspicuous when it is in motion, as is nearly always the case. In all these respects it resembles the European lapwing, a resemblance to which both Wilson and Audubon called attention. Wilson (1832) says that “this restless and noisy bird is known to almost every inhabitant of the United States.”

During the latter part of the last century and early in this persecution by shooting brought down the numbers of the killdeer so that in certain parts of the country where it formerly bred it became extremely rare. Thus, Forbush (1925) says:

The killdeer was once a common breeding bird in New England. Early in the present century it became so reduced in numbers that it was believed to have been practically exterminated as a breeding species. * * * Legislation protecting it perpetually has resulted in a gradual increase of the species which is now nesting locally but not uncommonly in the coastal region and river valleys of southern New England.

Other evidence of a similar nature is that of W. J. Brown (1916), who says: “Ten years ago the killdeer was a rare summer resident in the Province of Quebec. During the past five seasons the bird has become very numerous and is now a common breeder.”

The killdeer is one of the most beneficial of birds; it is a delight to the eye as it runs along the field or swiftly flies and skims the ground, and its familiar calls are pleasing. Long may it flourish unharmed by man!

Spring.—The migration of the killdeer is not as marked as is that of other shore birds whose winter station is far removed from the summer breeding grounds, for it breeds in many places where it winters. As a spring migrant it is one of the earliest of shore birds; indeed, there are few land birds that precede it, coming generally in small scattered flocks, which are augmented if the birds loiter on the way. Prof. William Rowan writes of its migration at Edmonton, Alberta:

It is the first wader to come North in the spring and the last to go South in the fall. It may arrive as early as the middle of March and stay till the middle of November. These are remarkable dates for a shore bird in this country, since the lakes remain frozen as a rule till the end of April and exceptionally right into May. Even the rivers may remain solid till the middle of April.

Lynds Jones says that the killdeer, robin, and bluebird arrive about the same time in Ohio. M. P. Skinner writes of the killdeer in the Yellowstone Park that—

Usually this bird arrives on warm mornings, but on one occasion they came on a morning when the thermometer registered below zero, but a few hours later at 10 o’clock there was a sudden change and the temperature shot up above 40° F.

The killdeers migrate by day and also by night, their calls proclaiming them during the darkness.

Courtship.—The most noticeable courtship performances of the killdeer are those that take place in the air—the nuptial flight—but those that occur on the ground, although less often seen, are also spectacular.

Of the courtship in the air Dwight Isely (1912) says that in Kansas “during the first month or six weeks after their arrival killdeers seem to spend a large part of their time in courtship. The male will fly back and forth over a field giving its cry sometimes for over an hour without intermission.”

Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says of the bird near Charleston: “During very cold weather the killdeer rises several hundred yards in the air, hovering on almost motionless wings and uttering its far-reaching notes. I have known a pair to remain in the heavens for fully an hour during the coldest weather.” M. P. Skinner of the Yellowstone Park writes: “Although the killdeer is not a song bird I have heard some quite musical notes and even tuneful sequences from him. On the 4th of April one was heard singing while flying low in a circle over the nesting ground, and the performance was strongly suggestive of a nuptial flight song.”

S. F. Rathbun of Seattle has communicated the following interesting account of his observations on the subject:

The evolutions were participated in by both birds of the pair that I watched on several occasions, and, as my knowledge goes, very early in spring prior to nesting. At this time these birds were evidently mated. As they fed about the margin of a small pond, one invariably following the other, suddenly the bird In the lead would spring into the air and mount upwards by a succession of wide, sweeping spirals, with its mate in pursuit constantly uttering its notes in a short and hurried manner. Higher and higher was the flight, but restricted over the certain area of the pond until both disappeared from one’s vision, although the note continued to be faintly heard. As I continued to watch, the birds’ cry ceased and down from the sky I first noted a speck falling, then both came into plain sight, one following the other, and then both alighted. This descent was as quickly made as if the birds fell out of the ether. After alighting the former actions were again indulged in, and shortly after the high flight was again made. These actions were repeated several times during my stay of over two hours in the vicinity.

From these reports it is evident that the courtship flight is performed in various ways, and, as Audubon (1840) says, “It skims quite low over the ground, or plays at a great height in the air, particularly during the love season, when you may see these birds performing all sorts of evolutions on the wing.”

Of courtship display on the ground Theed Pearse (1924) writes:

On two occasions that I saw one getting up he ran a short distance and then went through what looked like a sexual display. Crouching on the ground and leaning toward one side with wings lowered and then opening the tail in fan shape over the back so that the cinnamon tail coverts came conspicuously into view, at the same time uttering a trilling note.

Aretas Saunders (1926) thus describes the display:

Two birds would crouch side by side but facing in opposite directions. Then they would droop the tips of the wings so that they exposed the ochraceous patch of the lower back, spread the tail, and tip the breast forward, slowly lifting the wing tips till they came way above the back, but never covered it from view. All the while they kept up a continual call, the long-trilled note t-r-r-r-r-rrrrr. The displaying birds would often begin the performance or end it with a little fighting.

Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) reports a case where—

the male had taken his station some distance from the female and at intervals whirled rapidly about, uttering a curious stuttering note as he did so. Every few seconds the female advanced a few steps toward the male, but when he stopped to observe the effect of this display she quickly turned her back and appeared perfectly indifferent. This was repeated several times until the female suddenly flew away.

This behavior of the female is very characteristic and common in avian, as well as in other courtship. In whirling about, the brown tail coverts must show prominently and the “stuttering note” may be another term for the “trilling note” used by other writers.

Nesting.—The killdeer nests in the open, generally in a situation that gives the bird on the nest an extended view. The nest may be close to water—river, lake, or pond more often than the sea—but it is generally in fields a few feet to several hundred yards or even a mile or two from water. Pastures, meadows, cultivated fields, and bare gravelly ground are favorite nesting places for this bird. Gravel roads and the spaces between the ties of a railroad and even a graveled roof have all been chosen by this bird for laying its eggs.

As a rule, the ground is slightly hollowed out for the eggs and a few chips of stone, wood, or weed stalks are placed in and about the hollow. Within narrow bounds there is considerable variation, and I have here set down some of the numerous nests described. Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) says:

In this region [Oregon] the favorite nesting place was at the base of a hill of corn. As usual, little or no attempt was made to build a nest—a few pebbles and bits of corn husks being the usual type. This material is seldom concentrated into a nest but is scattered over an area of 1 or more square feet, the eggs being deposited on the ground at some point within this area. * * * A rather unusual nest was found. It was placed in a small depression and carefully lined with shredded corn husks.

Harold C. Bryant (1914) reports in Merced County, Calif.—

Another nest found May 15 was unique in the fact that it was placed in a small grassy knoll surrounded by water, and that the cavity was well lined with short stems of devil grass.

J. M. Bates (1916) says of nests found in Nebraska:

The dirt is scooped out the size of my hand and is laid with thin, flat scraps of magnesian sand shale averaging an inch long. While a few dead stems lie with the stones, there is no appearance of design in their presence.

Charles R. Stockard (1905) says of the killdeer in Mississippi:

The eggs are never hidden in the grass or weeds but are placed in slight depressions on the bare ground or on short grass turf. The saucerlike depression of a nest has scattered in it bits of shells, small pebbles, short pieces of weeds or sticks, and often small bits of crayfish armor. This rubbish is never arranged so as to form a real nest, since only a few bits of it are scattered in the depression.

M. P. Skinner writes as follows of this bird nesting in the Yellowstone National Park:

All the nests I have found were on high, dry land, although never more than two or three hundred yards from water, while some were within 20 feet of it. One nest was in a depression in the meadow grass, but not otherwise lined or showing any construction. All the other nests were on knolls or ridges, either on gravel soil or on gray formation; they were in depressions varying from a shallow saucer-shaped hollow to one that was 2 inches deep by 3 inches in diameter; and in each case the birds appear to have taken possession of a previous hollow, although possibly deepening and otherwise forming it to their purpose. All nests were unlined, although one had a few sprays of sage and phlox around the edge and another had a few shreds of dried and bleached wood scattered about.

John G. Tyler (1913), writing of the nests in Fresno district, California, says:

A typical nest throughout the cultivated sections is composed of a handful of white pebbles about the size of peas and very uniform in size, mixed with an equal number of dry shells of melon seeds of the previous year. Frequently a few dry, broken-up pieces of melon stems are used also, the whole being spread out over a space the size of a saucer, with the eggs resting in the center * * *. On the summer-fallow fields only a few dry grass blades line the place where the eggs rest, while around the ponds of the west side, the eggs generally lie half covered in the powdered alkali dust without a scrap of nest lining.

W. J. Brown (1916) speaks of finding many attempts at excavating nests in the ground not far from the real nest. He suggests they may be decoy nests. Mrs. Henry W. Nelson (1900) reports a case where the eggs were laid in the bare gravel driveway and were moved by the gardener to the edge of the turf out of the way of carriages. The bird continued to incubate. W. Lee Chambers (1901) relates the case of a killdeer’s nest between the ties on a used railroad track; F. W. Aldrich, of one between double tracks of a well-used railroad, and notes of a similar case to the latter have been sent by F. A. E. Starr.

Gayle Pickwell (1925) found near Lincoln, Nebr., the nest of a killdeer in a rubbish heap of broken glass, old bottles, and other material with which the dark mottled eggs harmonized so closely in color that they were invisible until closely approached. In fact killdeers’ eggs are so protectively colored for the usual surroundings that the instinct of nest concealment by furtive abandonment is exhibited by the killdeer as in the case of most shore birds.

The most unusual case of the nesting of the killdeer is that observed by Mr. Pickwell (1925) in the same locality on the gently sloping tarred and graveled roof of a race-track grandstand, some 50 feet above the ground. The eggs were laid in a slight cup-shaped depression among the crushed stones. Close observation showed that the relative position of the eggs in the nest was changed daily between 10.30 a. m. and 3 p. m., and it was not unusual to find them with their points away from the center of the nest. The young were found on the ground near the building while still but feeble walkers. In what manner the old ones transferred them from the roof was not observed.

Eggs.—[Author’s note: The number of eggs in a set is almost always four, but five and three have been found. Mr. Pickwell (1925) says the roof-nesting killdeer “laid at least three clutches of eggs during the season extending from early April to the last of June, and she may have raised two broods.” The eggs are ovate pyriform in shape, usually quite pointed, and they have no gloss. The ground colors vary from “light buff” or “cream color” to “cartridge buff” or “ivory yellow.” They are irregularly spotted, blotched, or scrawled, often quite boldly, with blackish brown or black; some eggs have “sepia” blotches and some a few underlying spots of “pale drab gray.” The measurements of 92 eggs average 36.3 by 26.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 41.5 by 27, 39.5 by 28 and 33 by 25 millimeters.]