. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Killdeer. The nest, at times, consists of little more than the supporting earth or gravel; but oftener the nesting hollow is carefully lined with weed-stems, bits of bark, chips, or fragments of cow-dung. On one occasion I found a Killdeer proudly ensconced in the midst of a large dried "cow-flop" whose center had been carefully chiseled away for the reception of her eggs. At Los Banos the nesting Kill- deers are loosely associated wi
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Killdeer. The nest, at times, consists of little more than the supporting earth or gravel; but oftener the nesting hollow is carefully lined with weed-stems, bits of bark, chips, or fragments of cow-dung. On one occasion I found a Killdeer proudly ensconced in the midst of a large dried "cow-flop" whose center had been carefully chiseled away for the reception of her eggs. At Los Banos the nesting Kill- deers are loosely associated with the Black-necked Stilts. The choice of such companionship must involve real self-sacrifice upon the Killdeer's part, for the Black-necked Stilt is the one bird which can outshriek the Killdeer. Moreover, the Killdeer is helpless when the annual flood begins to rise. Instead of scurrying about and shoring up the threatened nest with weeds and trash, as the Stilt would do, the Killdeer only mourns, while the waters invade, and eventu- ally flow over the doomed eggs. I succeeded once, in Washington, in affording succor to a brooding Kill- deer whose artless solicitude had rather intrigued my heart. When the flood-waters began to threaten, I built a platform, set up on stilts, and placed thereon the sod containing her nest. At first the bird was heart-broken, having no idea what had become of her eggs, and it was only after a day's patient training, and the use of successive stages of sod approaches, that the bird was led to accept her new and very prominent tower of refuge. Even then I was obliged to provide a sod-covered runway which led up to the platform, and as often as the Killdeer approached or left her nest she used the runway, having no conception of a nest situation except as embodied as a part of terra firma. From this and other experiments, we have learned something of the psychology of the Killdeer, and know that she is a victim of predominant impressions, to use th
Size: 2195px × 1138px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
