Field Notes 151 



In Bird-Lore for Nov.-Dec. 1915 (page 479) Mr. Forbush tells 

 (quoted by Pearson) of wounded Surf Scoters diving and holding 

 to water plants until they drown in order to escape hunters, but 

 other than this and the instance cited above, as far as my recol- 

 lection goes, 1 know of no cases where birds have actually taken 

 their own lives. Perhaps some of our readers can furnish addi- 

 tional information on this subject. 



FUED J. PlEPvCE. 



Winthrop, Iowa. 



WOODCOCK AND OTHER NOTES FROM ARKANSAS 



In March, 1920, the writer saw an American Woodcock in a 

 thickly wooded pasture near Fayetteville, Arkansas. This species 

 formerly nested in this region but has not been observed for many 

 years in any of its former summer haunts. While recently in Dar- 

 danelle, and the guest of my keen-eyed and accurate sportsman 

 friend, Mr. G. E. Pilquist, I got the following facts about the nest- 

 ing of a pair of Woodcock this season in that vicinity. 



Dardanelle is on the right branch of the Arkansas River near 

 the famous Dardanelle Rock, around which cluster many Indian 

 legends. Nearby is Mount Nebo, a beautiful isolated peak of the 

 Ozarkian uplift, rivalling Mount Magazine in beauty but not quite 

 attaining its elevation of more than 2800 feet. The swamps and 

 woodlands in this region are particularly inviting to the birds and 

 the streams abound in fish. Considerable game still exists and 

 pearlers and trappers find it still more or less profitable to ex- 

 plore the rivers for their treasures. 



About the sixteenth of March a report was brought to Mr. 

 Pilquist of the nesting of a pair of Woodcock about six miles 

 southwest of Dardanelle and some three and one-half miles south 

 of Mt. Nebo. The locality was fully five miles from the Arkansas 

 River. He immediately made an effort to visit the nest. Competent 

 eyewitnesses identified the species, and on the thirtieth of March 

 Mr. Pilquist himself visited the nest, which was placed in a stub- 

 ble of burned sedge grass, the clump being surrounded with water 

 at the time the bird was seen. The nest was typical in eveiy re- 

 spect and not more than one hundred yards from a small creek. 

 On the 31st of March the four eggs hatched. 



It may be well for the writer to submit here without comment, 

 a list of birds already observed as nesting in this region, specify- 

 ing those of which eggs have been actually collected with a star. 

 It is possible, of course, to greatly extend this list, and we fully 

 hope to do this as opportunity will permit: 



Wood Duck. Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, King Rail?, Amer- 

 ican Woodcock, *Bob-white, Wild Turkey (nest in adjoining county 

 visited in 1920), *Mourning Dove, *Turkey Vulture (1921), *Coop- 

 er's Hawk, *Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk. American 



