58 Wayne, South Carolina Birds. [.Jan. 



nigra, Ochthodromus wilsonius, Hcematopus palliatus, and Sym- 

 phemia semipalmata, which, in those days, bred numerously on 

 Sullivan's Island. There is no question whatever that these 

 birds were breeding, but I did not wade into the pond on account 

 of moccasin snakes, which were abundant. About two weeks 

 later, a relative, who had been spending several months at Cape 

 Canaveral, Florida, brought to me, upon his return to Charleston, 

 several complete sets of eggs of Himantopus mexicanus that he 

 had personally collected at the Cape. His description of the 

 breeding habits of the birds left no doubt in my mind that the 

 birds I saw were breeding. This pond was destroyed by a very 

 severe storm before 1884, and since that discovery was made, 

 I have failed to note again the presence of this species in South 

 Carolina. 



Philohela minor. American Woodcock. — In Audubon's ' Birds 

 of America,' Vol. VI, p. 18, he refers to this species as breeding 

 from February to June. This is substantiated by a fine set of 

 four eggs whic'h were found on Capers's Island on February 13, 

 1903. The nest was on the ground, on a slightly rising plain, and 

 near a wet cover. The eggs were perfectly fresh. On March 

 4, 1903, another Woodcock's nest was found with four freshly 

 laid eggs, and, in company with my friend, Mr. Benj. T. Gault, 

 of Illinois, we saw the bird incubating. These eggs, or at least 

 two of them, are the handsomest and deepest colored that I have 

 yet seen. Mr. J. H. Riley, in 'The Auk' for July, 1904, p. 384, 

 asks if Woodcock eggs "fade out during incubation or without 

 it." In reply to this question, I will say that the two sets above 

 mentioned are the only ones I have ever seen or taken during the 

 past twenty-five years, and as both sets were fresh and not incu- 

 bated the color did not change perceptibly in the set taken Feb- 

 ruary 13; while the set taken March 4 did not fade at all, at least 

 in the two richly colored eggs. The Woodcock 'sings' and 'peeps' 

 from December until the middle of March in South Carolina. 



Ereunetes occidentalis. Western Sandpiper. — This species 

 is only absent during a part of May and June on the coast. It 

 arrives about the 8th of July in worn breeding plumage, and 

 winters in countless thousands. It is a curious fact that of nearly 

 all the species of Limicolse that occur on the South Carolina coast, 



