354 
The Black=necked Stilt 
larg'e blotches of black. These nests are often placed within fifteen or 
twenty yards of each other ; but the greatest harmony seems to prevail 
among the proprietors.” 
These birds to-day may be regarded as virtually extinct in New 
Jersey. All chose representatives of the race that come to this region to 
breed apparently have been either killed or driven elsewhere. Mr. Witmer 
Stone in his book, “The Birds of New Jersey,” gives but a single record of 
the Stilt having been seen in that State during the past fifty years ; this one 
was shot by a gunner at Stone Harbor, April 27, 1894. The Stilt seems 
equally rare at other points along the Atlantic Coast. 
Rare m Eaton’s' “Birds of New York” the author relates 
the East latest New York specimens were taken fifty 
or sixty years ago on Long Island, some of which are now in the State 
Museum, the American Museum, and the collection of the Long Island 
Historical Society.” I know of only one record for North Carolina dur- 
ing the past twenty years. A specimen was shot at Nag’s Head in Dare 
County, North Carolina, in June, 1900, and is preserved in the Museum 
of Trinity College at Durham. 
Mr. Arthur T. Wayne, who has been studying bird-life on the coast 
of South Carolina for nearly fort)^ years, records in his book on the 
birds of that State that the only Black-necked Stilts he ever saw in that 
territory were on Sullivan Island about the middle of May, 1881. He 
expresses a belief that the four birds he saw had nests in the neighbor- 
hood of a small fresh-water pond they were inhabiting. 
In southern Llorida Stilts may still be met with, for they breed not 
uncommonly in many districts, from Cape Canaveral southward through 
the peninsula and the Keys. On a key near Cape Sable Bent and Job 
found nests with fresh eggs on May 8, 1903. In his “Birds of Eastern 
North America,” C. J. Maynard wrote of the Llorida Stilts: 
“As may readily be inferred from a glance at the birds, the Black- 
necked Stilts run very rapidly, but in the midst of their career they will 
pause suddenly, bend their long legs, and pick up something from the 
ground, then ol4 again after more food. Their favorite method of feed- 
ing, however, is to wade in the shallow pools, often becoming sub- 
merged to the body, and I have frequently seen them wading in this 
manner among flocks of Ducks, consisting of several 
species. When alarmed while in the water they will 
raise their long wings and rise as lightly as if on the 
land, and squat quietly down in groups, but each individual faces the 
wind, especially if it be blowing hard. They are not shy birds, as a rule, 
allowing one to approach within a few yards, and if the intruder go too 
near they will give a bow or two as if balancing themselves, then rise 
with a harsh scream which becomes continuous when they are badly 
frightened.” 
They are common birds m many of the Bahama Islands. Mr. J. IT. 
Riley, writing in The Auk for October, 1905, observes: “Almost every 
