Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 53 



before departing for its breeding grounds. This spring moult 

 is sometimes acquired by April 21, but it is not generally com- 

 pleted before the first week in May. The northward migration 

 is over about May 20 and by the second week in July a few flocks 

 reach this coast on their return. They are not common, how- 

 ever, until August 1, and, strange to relate, most, if not all, of 

 the birds pass on without stopping. I have never seen this 

 species in the winter months. Its range at that season extends 

 as far south as Patagonia, but it breeds only in the Arctic and 

 sub- Arctic regions of North America. In the spring the birds 

 migrate to their breeding grounds in a northwesterly direction. 



109. Helodromas solitarius (Wils.). Solitary Sandpiper. 



The earliest record I have of the occurrence of this transient 

 visitant in the spring is April 16, 1902, and it remains as late as 

 May 27. The adults in worn breeding plumage return during 

 the second week in July and are common by the 31st, if the ponds 

 are full of water, but if there is a drought the birds pass on with- 

 out stopping as they seem to know that the country is dry. I 

 have found this to be the case with all migratory birds. The 

 ponds were full of water in the autumn of 1895, and consequently 

 this sandpiper was found on Long Island as late as November 18. 



The name "Solitary" is hardly applicable to this species as 

 I have seen it in flocks of eight or ten individuals. 



Although this sandpiper breeds in the northern states it is 

 more abundant in Canada during the season of reproduction. 



110. Catoptrophorus semipalmatus (Gmel.). Willet. 



The Willet is a permanent resident, stated by Audubon to 

 breed "along the shores of the Carolinas about the beginning 

 of April. ' ' I have, however, invariably found it incubating during 

 the first week of May. The nest is merely a hole scooped out in 

 the ground at the foot of a bunch of grass near high water mark 

 and lined with grass. In some cases, it is placed in wild oats 

 (Zizania miliacea) and in this situation I have found two nests 

 on the top of a high sand hill. The eggs number four or five — 

 the latter number being very rare — and are greenish or brownish 

 oUve, spotted and blotched with dark brown, and measure 

 2.05X1.50. 



