190 K I T T I Y V A K E G U L L .
along the edge of lower mandible 2 ^ ; tarsus 1T
7
3 ; middle toe 1£, its
claw T%. Weight l£ lb.
Young bird in January. Plate CCXXIV. Fig. 2.
Bill and feet black. Edges of eyelids and iris as in the adult. The
hind head and neck are bluish-grey, and before the eye there is a semilunar
blackish mark, the tips of the auriculars also dark grey. Forehead,
sides of the head, throat, and lower parts, white, as is the rump. Tail
white., with a broad terminal band of black, the outer feather having only
a spot on the inner web. The mantle is bluish-grey, but a broad band
of black crosses the lower part of the hind neck, and the larger wingcoverts
are of the same colour towards the end. The primary quills are
black, more or less margined with white internally.
Length to end of tail 17 inches, to end of wings 19, to end of claws 17;
extent of wings 36TY Weight 14^ oz.
( 191 )
THE KILDEER PLOVER.
CHARADRIUS VOCIFERUS, WILS.
PLATE CCXV. MALE AND FEMALE.
READER, suppose yourself wandering over some extensive prairie, far
beyond the western shores of the Mississippi. While your wearied limbs
and drooping spirits remind you of the necessity of repose and food, you
see the moon's silvery rays glitter on the dews that have already clothed the
tall grass around you. Your footsteps, be they ever so light, strike the
ear of the watchful Kildeer, who, with a velocity scarcely surpassed by
that of any other bird, comes up, and is now passing and repassing swiftly
around you. His clear notes indicate his alarm, and seem to demand why
you are there. To see him is now impossible, for a cloud has shrouded
the moon ; but on your left and right, before and behind, his continued
vociferations intimate how glad he would be to see you depart from his
beloved hunting-grounds. Nay, be not surprised if he should follow you
until his eyes, meeting the glaring light of a woodsman traveller, he will
wheel off and bid you adieu.
The Kildeer's large eyes seem to be given it to enable it to feed by
night as well as by day. At any time after the breeding season, this
species moves in loose flocks, seldom exceeding ten or fifteen individuals,
which disperse over the space of an acre or two of ground. Yet some one
of them always acts as a sentinel, for standing erect to the full stretch of
its legs, it carefully watches all the moving objects around, as far as its
eye can reach. Cows, horses, or sheep are none of its enemies, and among
them it will seek for food ; but let a man, or a dog, or any other animal
bent on destruction, shew himself, and that instant the bird runs swiftly
with a querulous note, and should any of these his enemies evince the
least disposition to molest it, its beautiful wings and tail are spread, and
away it goes, cheerily calling to its companions to follow.
The Kildeer is by most people called a " noisy bird and restless."
Now to me it is any thing but this, unless indeed when it is disturbed by
the approach or appearance of its enemies, more particularly man, of
whom indeed few wild birds are fond. Watch them from under some