154 BIRD NAMES. [No. 43.. 



flight often too long to follow. Some old gunners believe that 

 these "whistlers," or "little whistlers," as they are called in 

 western Massachusetts and portions of Connecticut, are late 

 birds from the far JSTorth, and that their appearance is always 

 indicative of the end of the season's flight-shooting ; while others 

 claim that our fall shooting is as apt to close with large birds as 

 with small ones, and that these very quick little fellows are old 

 male " ground-keepers " (native stock). I incline myself to the 

 latter theory, and will add that as these home birds are not 

 fatigued by a journey from the North, they are naturally in 

 good condition for rapid and protracted flight, and for a suc- 

 cessful one, knowing well the ins and outs of home swamps 

 and hillsides. 



In many localities remote from bird-dogs and city influences 

 the woodcock, though present perhaps in goodly number, has no 

 name at all, is never pursued, and when accidentally flushed is 

 regarded with little interest, or as a quagmire creature unfit for 

 the food of man. 



