OF VIRGINIA 69 
Ontario, and southern Maine to southern Oregon, northern 
Utah, central Oklahoma, southern Missouri, southern 
Indiana, and parts of Virginia; winters on the pampas 
of South America to Argentina; in migration occurs north 
to Newfoundland and in Europe; accidental in Australia. 
This is probably one of our rarest species, and is, I 
think, the next bird to become extinct. Formerly they 
were very common over our area, but of late years one 
seldom sees them, especially in the breeding season. They 
arrive from the south about April 22nd, and migrate 
southward early in August, about the Sth. Like the Willet, 
they are a very noisy bird when one is near their nest, 
though it is much harder to find than the nest of that 
species. For a breeding ground, they prefer an old 
pasture or a low, sandy waste covered with short grass, 
the nest being a slight hollow scooped in the ground and 
lined with fine grasses. The nest is generally located in 
some dense growth or clump of grass or weeds, making it 
invisible from many angles. Four eggs is a full set; the 
ground color a rich, creamy buff, finely specked and 
blotched with light reddish-brown and faint undermark- 
ings of lavender. Size, 1.73x1.23. Fresh eges June 1st 
to 10th. They raise but a single brood a season with us. 
When plentiful and during the migrations, they were a 
bird much sought after by the gunners, and their habit of 
resorting to the open meadows, fields and pastures, where 
they fed on grasshoppers, worms, cutworms and locusts, 
was the main factor in their decrease. During such times 
they were persistently hunted by the local inhabitants and 
market gunners, until now they have become a novelty in 
a huntsman’s bag. They should be rigorously protected 
at all times. .\ few pair still breed in the State as far 
south as Montgomery County. 
