killdeer

noun

Etymology: Imitative of the bird's call.

1. A North American plover (Charadrius vociferus) with a distinctive cry and territorial behavior that includes feigning injury to attract predators and spare the young in the nest.

   “A kill-deer, flying so low as to dip its wings, ever and anon alighted on the margin, its stilt-like legs half submerged as it ran hither and thither, now and then bending to dig in the sand with its long slender bill.”