74 NORTH CAROLINA 



Mr. Chapman means, I suppose^ when he 

 speaks of the solitary sandpiper's superior 

 quietness and dignity; two fine attributes, 

 which may have much to do with their pos- 

 sessor's almost unparalleled success in elud- 

 ing the researches of oological collectors. 

 Nervousness and loquacity are poor hands 

 at preserving a secret. 



Although my first brief visit to Stewart's 

 Pond made three additions to my local bird- 

 list (the third being a pair of brown creep- 

 ers), I did not go that way again for almost 

 a fortnight. Then (May 21) my feet were 

 barely on the bridge before a barn swallow 

 skimmed past me. Swallows of any kind 

 in the mountains of North Carolina are like 

 hen-hawks in Massachusetts, rare enough 

 to be worth following out of sight. As for 

 barn swallows, I had not expected to see 

 them here at all. I kept my eye upon this 

 fellow, therefore, with the more jealousy, 

 and happily for me' he seemed to have found 

 the spot very much to his mind. If he was 

 a straggler, as I judged likely in spite of the 

 lateness of the season, he was perhaps all 

 the readier to stay for an hour or two on 

 so favorable a hunting-ground. With him 



