SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



feathers veined with black and its pointed 

 black wings make it easy of recognition. 

 Both spring and fall, on its journeys to and 

 from its breeding place in the north, the soli- 

 tary sandpiper is to be found in the marsh 

 in small numbers, for it generall}^ lives up to 

 its name and is solitary, although occasionally 

 two or three are seen together. Only within 

 a few years have its eggs been found, and, 

 like the green sandpiper of England, it lays 

 them in the deserted nest of some other bird 

 in a low tree or bush. 



The dowitcher resembles the snipe, but it 

 lacks the robust, almost corpulent form orf 

 that bird, for it is decidedly more slender. 

 While the snipe bears the name of EyiglisJi, 

 the dowitcher is for some reason named 

 German^ for '' dowitcher " is believed to be 

 a corruption of deiitscJie. Owing to its red 

 breast it is commonly called '' red-breasted 

 snipe " or '' robin snipe, '^ while from the 

 color of its back it is also known as '' brown- 

 back." The local names for our shore birds 

 are legion. Gurdon Trumbull, in his ' ' Names 

 and Portraits of Birds which interest Gun- 

 ners," gives eleven other names besides those 

 already mentioned. He has also collected as 



244 



