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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



browner and have strongly decurved bills. Like the 

 willet and upland plover, the curlews were formerly 

 abundant, but are now scarce. Indeed, one species, the 

 eskimo curlew, is believed to be extinct. The godwits 

 have slightly upcurved bills and the dowitcher, Wilson's 

 snipe and woodcock have exceedingly long probe-like 

 bills. What has been said regarding the curlews applies 

 also to the godwits, for while the marbled godwit is 



NO SPOTS ON THIS 



Fall styles with the spotted Sandpipers permit of no polkadots. A 

 September Spotted Sandpiper. 



still fairly plentiful in the Northwest, the Hudsonian 

 godwit is one of the rarest shore-birds. 



The dowitcher is more like the other sandpipers and 

 often associates with them on the open mud flats, but 

 the Wilson's snipe prefers the grassy marshes and seldom 

 ventures out on the bare flats except early in the morn- 

 ing and at dusk. The Wilson's snipe is a better game 

 bird than the other small sandpipers because of its 

 habits. It sometimes travels in flocks, but they scatter 

 when feeding and do not get up together nor afford a 

 "pot shot." They ordinarily escape detection until they 

 jump with a somewhat startling "kick" or "bleat" and 

 quickly get off on a zigzag course that puzzles the 

 hunter. 



Even more abberrant and the best game bird of them 

 all, is the woodcock. It never ventures out into the 

 open except after dark, but spends the day usually in 

 alder thickets, though sometimes at a considerable dis- 

 tance from water. Because of the nature of its haunts, 

 it is a difficult target for the hunter. It has, however, 

 the unfortunate habit of never flying very far and allow- 

 ing itself to be flushed and shot at time and again. Once 

 in its winter quarters in the South, a bird remains in the 

 same thickets until time to move northward again. 

 Because of this, in many places hunters with dogs have 

 been able to exterminate nearly all the birds wintering 

 in some localities. This has resulted in woodcock becom- 

 ing extremely scarce in most places. 



The woodcock is one of the most protectively colored 



birds that we have and on the nest it frequently relies 

 entirely upon its coloration and will allow itself to be 

 touched while incubating. It is said of the European 

 woodcock that when it is frequently disturbed with its 

 young on its feeding grounds it will remove them to 

 some upland thicket for the day and bring them back 

 to the feeding ground at night, carrying them between 

 its thighs. Both the snipe and the woodcock have flexi- 

 ble bills and the tip of the upper mandible can be moved 

 separately from the rest of the bill. This permits them 

 to seize the worms or grubs which they find by prob- 

 ing in the soft soil. The tips of their bills are filled with 

 sensory pits covered with a soft membrane which enables 

 them to locate their food. 



With the exception of one species, all of our sandpipers 

 nest on the ground. The exception is the solitary sand- 

 piper, which, so far as is known, utilizes the old nests of 

 other birds like the robin and grackle, sometimes at a 

 considerable distance above ground and away from the 

 water. All sandpipers lay three or four eggs, very large 

 for the size of the bird, which are sharply tapered so 

 that they will fit together like the pieces of a pie. Other- 



A SIMPLE LITTLE HOME ON THE SHORE 



Sandpipers do not build elaborate nests but merely line a depression with 

 a few straws. They lay large pointed eggs that fit together like the 

 pieces of a pie. This is the nest of a Spotted Sandpiper. 



wise the old bird would be unable to cover them. They 

 are usually buff or tan in ground color, or with some 

 species greenish, heavily spotted with black or brown. 

 Young sandpipers, when hatched, are covered with 

 down, often of a striped pattern, and are able to run 

 about and follow their parents or even swim across 

 streams. The first plumage is similar to that of the 

 adults in the fall and in the spring all molt into the 



