THE BIRDS OF WISCONSIN. 
visit the lake shore daily and not see a specimen until the 
young are almost able to fly. 
Helodromas solitarius (Wils.). SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 
A fairly common summer resident in suitable localities, 
breeding from the southern counties northward to Lake 
Superior and beyond. Arrives in southern Wisconsin about 
May 1, the larger number at once passing on. Returning, 
the northern birds, together with those which remained to 
breed, leave early for the south, few being seen after Sep- 
tember 15. Not at all a "shore bird," its haunts are almost 
strictly along wooded streams and about closely timbered 
ponds. There is no Wisconsin bird of which we have so 
diligently and systematically sought the eggs, and without 
success, as this sandpiper. Numbers of times we have found 
the young just hatched, and judging from the actions of the 
parents have often been near the eggs. 
Symphemia semipalmata (Gmcl.J. WIIjf-ET. 
None of the older Wisconsin ornithologists found the 
willet in any numbers. Dr. Hoy and Thure Kumlien spoke 
of it as a rare summer resident. The specimens secured 
during the past thirty years were usually taken in May and 
September, and although there are some records for June, we 
never found any evidence of nesting. Some numbers pass 
up the Mississippi and remain, or at least did, during June, 
in the marshy tracts in the western part of the state, possibly 
a few nesting. At the present time, however, it must be 
classed as a rare wader in Wisconsin. A good series taken at 
different seasons would doubtless prove the occurrence of the 
western form, S. s. fotornata Brewst. within our borders at 
some time, if only as a straggler during migrations. 
Bartramia lon^icauda (Bechst.). BARTRAMIAX SANDPIPER. 
This once abundant species is disappearing at such a rate 
that if the decrease in the next twenty years is as great as u 
has been since 1870 the bird will become extinct. Formerly 
every meadow, border of marsh, or grassy lake shore contained 
great numbers of this bird. Of late it is found in limited 
numbers only, but is a regular breeder, even in the southern 
counties, about prairie pastures and grain fields. Arrives 
about the first of April and but few remain after the first 
hard frost in September. The "prairie pigeon" was but little 
