32 
BIRDS OF DURHAM AND VICINITY. 
ber, the main flight from the north does not reach us until about the 
twentieth of October. In summer woodcock often frequent cornfields 
where they find plenty of shade, soft earth and worms — all desiderata 
from the woodcock's standpoint. Later they return to the alder runs 
and other moist, tangled places. When the leaves begin to fall and 
autumn rains inundate low lands, they retire to higher ground, where 
they find cover among the dense growth of gray birches, pines, and 
scrub apple trees, which have sprung up on many neglected farms. 
Like the partridge and quail, they have a way of startling their would- 
be murderers when they take flight. The two outer wing feathers, 
which are short and narrow, produce a whistling sound, that makes a 
green hunter forget his mission until it is too late to shoot. Its nest 
is placed on the ground among pines or other dense bushes. 
Galinag-o delicata. Wilson's Snipe. 230. , 
This Snipe is a migrant of regular occurrence in both fresh and 
brackish marshes. I have found it here on the 7th of May, which is 
my only spring record, and at various times in the fall between Sep- 
tember 17 and October 25. Sometimes it remains very late, and 
Mr. Shaw has once observed it at Hampton about the middle of 
December. I have several times seen snipe feeding on moist ploughed 
land after sundown and on foggy days. They visit the Newmarket 
marshes at Great Bay every season, and sometimes are found about 
the College reservoir. They depend upon their color to protect them 
from observation, and only fly as a last resort. 
Macrorhamphus griseus. Dowitcher. 231. 
This Snipe regularly comes to the beach at Hampton between iVIay 
20 and 25, where it may be found on the sand in considerable 
numbers. It is also common during the autumnal migration, August 
and September, though I have not been able to get any exact dates. 
Micropalama himantopus. Stilt Sandpiper. 233. 
Stilt Sandpipers appear to be fairly regular, but not very common 
migrants. I find one in Mr. Shaw's collection that was taken at 
Hampton, and I read that Mr. William Brewster once secured ten at 
Rye Beach during a few weeks in August. 
