Page:Bird-lore Vol 01.djvu/376

A Pair of Killdeer BY MRS. HENRY W. NELSON ARLY ill June, i8gg, I was driving in a park in western New York, when my attention was drawn to a pair of strange birds, who circled round the carriage, sweeping down near the ground and rising again with anxious, distressed cries. They were beautiful birds, strikingly marked, with white foreheads, and rings around the throat — about the size of a light-bodied Pigeon, and with long legs. Presently my eye caught a movement on the ground, and I saw what looked like a little chicken running along at full speed. I was out of the carriage in a moment, and gave chase ; the big birds were evidently the parents, and in great anxiety as to my intentions. I easily overtook the little runner, though I had to walk fast to do it, and then down .he dropped on the ground, seemingly quite exhausted. I was filled with remorse, for I feared he had been forced to run so fast as to kill him. I gently picked him up, noticed the long legs, the three toes, long, slender bill, and pretty gray and white coloring, and laid him down again, venturing only faintly to hope that the mother's care might revive him. As I retired she came flying up and cuddled down over him, and I left — feeling very brutal. The gardener told me that the little thing had been hatched only three hours before I He had watched the old birds, from the time they had laid their eggs on the bare gravel drive without any pretence of a nest, and had moved them — the eggs — close to the edge of the turf, to pre- vent their being crushed by passing vehicles. They were Killdeer, a species of plover uncommon in our neighborhood. He said this pair had bred in the park for three years. The park is upland meadow-land newly planted, with no water near, except a tiny brook, dry in the summer. It seemed a strange place to choose, and the utter publicity of the nest, where the eggs might be crushed by every passing wheel, seemed extraordinar}'. The next day I was out betimes to see what had been the fate of the young bird, and to my great relief he was running about so fast that I did not attempt to pursue him again, but gave all my attention to the parents, and their ruses and maneuvers were fascinating to watch. Flying so close that I could almost touch her, the mother would throw herself on the ground two or three yards in advance, raise and flutter one wing quite helplessly, crying piteously. As I drew near, away she would fly, only to repeat the performance again and again, until she had fairly lured me to a good safe distance from her offspring, when up she rose and flew far away triumphantly.