Of 16 singing males which returned, 4 were using the same singing 
sites at distances of from 3.9 to e2 miles from the capture sites of 
former years. The average distance separating the 1954 singing sites 
from fields used in other years was .85 miles. 
Unusual behavior was demonstrated by one bird which has never been 
caught at the same singing field twice, either in the same year or in 
later years. Originally caught in 1951, this bird has been captured 
at five different singing sites as much as 2.6 miles apart. Another 
bird originally caught in 1950, although captured on the same site or 
sites several times, has been captured on five different sites, some 
separated by slightly over a mile. 
Returns of females.--There is no certain evidence cited in the 
literature for the return of American woodcock hens to breeding grounds 
of previous years. Therefore two returns of hens which were recorded 
this year are of particular interest. 
The first hen return was banded as a chick in 1951. She ws re- 
captured this year in a decoy trap on April 8, approximately 500 yards 
from her original banding site. A distinguishing sex character was a 
bill of 7 mm. Examination of her cloaca suggested the bird to be in 
breeding condition. Females, apparently starting a clutch, have greatly 
enlarged cloacas which are much more conspicuous than those of males at 
this time of year. This record is of especial interest as evidence that 
female woodcocks tend to return to breed in the same area where they 
were hatched, 
The second female return was that of a mature hen caught on three 
occasions in 1953 in the same funnel trap at intervals of several weeks. 
She was captured in the summer of 195) in mid-August in a net 3/\ of a 
mile from her banding site, strongly suggesting she had returned to the 
same general area to breed. 
Separate Singing Ground Study 
Following up individual investigations of former years of the be- 
havior of males as it might affect census techniques, Herbert Maxfield, 
a graduate student at Massachusetts State University, undertook a 
special study this year. The objective was to see how many male birds 
could be caught at one singing field. These birds were marked with air- 
plane dope so that field identification would be possible. In addition, 
a record was kept of the number of males heard peenting or singing in 
the study area, 
In contrast to the trapping grounds at Quabbin Reservation, 
Massachusetts, described in a previous report, the area selected is in 
the Connecticut River valley just on the western edge of the foothills 
at Amherst, Massachusetts. It is made up of extensive flat farmlands 
with a brook running along the eastern border, The only tree cover 
is on a narrow abandoned field of 17 acres approximately 600 yards long 
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