HAUNTS AND HABITS. 
11 
Fo:t Dodge, Iowa, ani listen to his disc aurse, and we shall 
discover quite a different state of thing?. He will inform 
us that early in spring sickle-billed curlew and marbled god- 
wits arrive paired, breed in the neighborhood and disappear 
in July, or as early as tha young are fledged and can take 
care of themselves, and are seen no more till the following 
spring. Undoubtedly portions of both species go to much 
more northern breeding-grounds. The offspring of the pre¬ 
vious year arrive a little later than the adults, in flocks, and 
remain so a'l summer, as they do not propagate till the second 
year. The young return by the same road they came. The 
curlew feed on dry plain or prairie land, while the godwits 
betake themselves to the fens or boggy places, where they 
can Icrce their long, stout bills into the soft mud for worms, 
after the manner of woodcock. Willet arrive singly or in 
small groups. Not abundant. Breed. Tae Hudsonian god- 
wits come along in large flocks, sojourn for a brief period, 
and then push on further norlh to breed, nor are they seen 
age in till the next year. Kill-deer (TEgialilis vocifcrus, 
Cass.), called here “dottere 1 ,” are abundant summer resi¬ 
dents—in fact, they breed pretty generally over the conti¬ 
nent. The little sandpiper (Tringa minutilla, Vieill.) is a'so 
a summer resident and breeds. The white-rumped sand¬ 
piper ( T . Bonapartii) is quite common, breeds here as well as 
further north, and returns with the two preceding. There 
am two of the dowitchers (M. griseus, Leach, and M. scol- 
opaceuft, Law.). Both appear in closely-compacted flocks in 
May, tarry but a short time, when they are drawn to their 
northern and more secluded nesting places. The fir3t-named 
make their return trip mostly via the Atlantic coast, while 
the last named return by the same route they advanced. 
From the first to the tenth of May, just as the young and 
tender grass begins to grow, one may see immense flocks of 
golden plover sweeping along like an invading army. They 
arc attracted to newly-burned prairie lands, which seem to 
furnish an abundance of little hard worms upon which they 
feed. They also frequent the newly-ploughed fields or 
those just sowed with wheat. They are less numerous 
