2 1.6 Pearson, Some North Carolina Birds. \jut 



in many and diverse places ; and that its regular presence in 

 such numbers imparts to this portion of the upper Mississippi 

 Valley a faunal coloring of rather more southern hue than was 

 to be expected. 



NOTES ON SOME OF THE BIRDS OF EASTERN 

 NORTH CAROLINA. 



BY J. GILBERT PEARSON. 



While making some investigations during the past summer 

 (1898) in connection with the State Geological Survey, I was 

 located from April 1 to August 20 on the North Carolina coast, at 

 various points from Elizabeth City southward to Little River on 

 the South Carolina border. The nature of my work was such as 

 to permit of some opportunities for investigation of the avifauna 

 of the regions visited, and as a result of the observations made at 

 that time, I have prepared the following brief notes. 



Micropalama himantopus. Stilt Sandpiper. — The region about 

 Cape Hatteras abounded in bird life during my second stay there, which 

 began on May 2, and continued until May 20. On the -wet grassy 

 beaches near the lighthouse birds swarmed literally by the thousands. 

 I there observed, and with one exception secured, specimens of Least, 

 Spotted, Semipalmated, White-rumped, and Red-backed Sandpipers; 

 Uowitcher ; Sanderling ; Semipalmated, and Black-bellied Plovers (some 

 of the latter in full summer plumage); Yellowlegs and Greater Yellow- 

 legs ; Wilson's Snipe; Turnstone; and Long-billed Curlew. On May 

 19, I secured a Stilt Sandpiper. It was shot singly while flying alone, 

 no other birds on the wing being near at the time. This I believe to be 

 the first record of the bird taken in the State. 



Nycticorax nycticorax naevius. Black-crowned Night Heron. — 

 Information in regard to this bird's occurrence in North Carolina has 

 been confined to a few scattering notes of single individuals which have 

 been taken at various points. On April 30, I visited a colony of Herons 

 which was breeding on a small island in Mattanmskeet Lake, situated in 

 Hyde County, and counted there seventy-five nests of the Little Blue 

 Heron, all of which contained eggs. These nests were situated in 



