354 The Black-necked Stilt 



large blotches of black. These nests are often placed within fifteen or 

 twenty yards of each other ; but the greatest harmony seems to prevail 

 among the proprietors.' 



These birds to-day may be regarded as virtually extinct in New 

 Jersey. All those representatives of the race that come to this region to 

 breed apparently have been either killed or driven elsewhere. Mr. Witmer 

 Stone in his book, "The Birds of New Jersey," gives but a single record of 

 the Stilt having been seen in that State during the past fifty years ; this one 

 was shot by a gunner at Stone Harbor, April 27, 1894. The Stilt seems 

 equally rare at other points along the Atlantic Coast. 

 Rare in j n j? a t O n's "Birds of New York" the author relates 



the East ^^ the i atest N W York specimens were taken fifty 



or sixty years ago on Long Island, some of which are now in the State 

 Museum, the American Museum, and the collection of the Long Island 

 Historical Society." I know of only one record for North Carolina dur- 

 ing the past twenty years. A specimen was shot at Nag's Head in Dare 

 County, North Carolina, in June, 1900, and is preserved in the Museum 

 of Trinity College at Durham. 



Mr. Arthur T. Wayne, who has been studying bird-life on the coast 

 of South Carolina for nearly forty years, records in his book on the 

 birds of that State that the only Black-necked Stilts he ever saw in that 

 territory were on Sullivan Island about the middle of May, 1881. He 

 expresses a belief that the four birds he saw had nests in the neighbor- 

 hood of a small fresh-water pond they were inhabiting. 



In southern Florida Stilts may still be met with, for they breed not 

 uncommonly in many districts, from Cape Canaveral southward through 

 the peninsula and the Keys. On a key near Cape Sable Bent and Job 

 found nests with fresh eggs on May 8, 1903. In his "Birds of Eastern 

 North America," C. J. Maynard wrote of the Florida Stilts: 



"As may readily be inferred from a glance at the birds, the Black- 

 necked Stilts run very rapidly, but in the midst of their career they will 

 pause suddenly, bend their long legs, and pick up something from the 

 ground, then off again after more food. Their favorite method of feed- 

 ing, however, is to wade in the shallow pools, often becoming sub- 

 merged to the body, and I have frequently seen them wading in this 

 manner among flocks of Ducks, consisting of several 

 species. When alarmed while in the water they will 

 raise their long wings and rise as lightly as if on the 

 land, and squat quietly down in groups, but each individual faces the 

 wind, especially if it be blowing hard. They are not shy birds, as a rule, 

 allowing one to approach within a few yards, and if the intruder go too 

 near they will give a bow or two as if balancing themselves, then rise 

 with a harsh scream which becomes continuous when they are badly 

 frightened." 



They are common birds In many of the Bahama Islands. Mr. J. H. 

 Riley, writing in The Auk for October, 1905, observes : "Almost every 



