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SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 77 



98 [225] Recurvirostra americana Gmel. 

 American Avocet. 

 Accidental visitor from the West. 



The collection of Mr. B. F. Damsell contained " a fine adult of this species, 

 taken May 23, 1887, doubtless on the Salisbury marshes. That it was a locally 

 obtained specimen there can be no doubt, as it was skinned, sexed and measured 

 by Mr. Damsell. His notebook simply makes record of it as the first of its kind 

 observed, for in these earlier days of his collecting he seems not to have been 

 aware of the rarity of his capture. The specimen has been acquired by the Bos- 

 ton Society of Natural History for its New England Collection."^ 



99 [226] Himantopus mexicanus (Miill.). 

 Black-necked Stilt. 

 Accidental visitor from the South. 

 The single specimen recorded in the original Memoir is still the only record. 



100 [228] Philohela minor (Gmel.). 



Woodcock. 



Not uncommon summer resident, more common in the migrations. March 

 4 to December 11. 



Eggs: May. 



Damsell's notebooks contain a number of records of late-fall birds, as fol- 

 lows: "November 20, 1886; December 10, 1887; November 21, 1880; November 

 18, December 6, i8go; November 30, 1893; December 5, 1903."^ 



On June 25, 1917, while walking through a boggy place in my "forest" at 

 Ipswich I almost stepped on two young Woodcock that flew for about twenty 

 yards close to the ground. Their tails were not fully grown and it is probable 

 they were hatched out in the vicinity. A few days later I flushed an adult in the 

 same locality and the birds remained there until July 16. The next spring I 

 looked forward to watching the courtship performance of this, interesting bird in 



1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 23, 1913. 



