244 AVE3. 



[They fall into two natural subdivisions : the first that of the Woodcocks, with less slender form, shorter legs, 

 and the tibia feathered to the joint ; colour resembling that of decayed leaves.] 



The European Woodcock {Sc. rusticola, Lin.).— Universally known, with handsomely mottled plumage. In the 

 summer it inhabits high mountains, and descends into the woods in the month of October, where it is generally 

 met with singly or in pairs, particularly in dull weather, and feeds on worms and insects. A few remain in the 

 level country throughout the year. 



[The Snipes, commonly so called, are lighter-made, with longer legs, and tibia bare above the joint. They fre- 

 quent marshy districts, and are coloured in adaptation to their abode. 



In Britain, we have three species, very similar in their colouring, — the Great or Double Snipe {Sc. major), which 

 approaches in form to a Woodcock, and is only met with in the seasons of passage ; the Common or Whole Snipe 

 (/Sc. gallinago), which breeds in considerable numbers on the northern hills, and is everywhere common in marshy 

 districts during the winter; and the Half or Jack Snipe (-Sc. gallinula), a minute species, more richly coloured 

 than the preceding, with much less tail : a fourth, the Sabine's Snipe (Sc. Sabini), is extremely rare, and exceeds 

 the Common Snipe in size, having dingy plumage, with no white upon it. All are highly esteemed for the table.] 



We should distinguish from the other Snipes 



The Grey species (5. grisea and Novobaracentis : [Macroramplnis griseut, Leach*, which is in truth a Tringa 

 with a longer bill than usual, similar to that of the Snipes, and retains the gregarious habits and seasonal changes 

 of colouring of the true Sandpipers and Godwits.] Its front toes are semipalmated. This bird is common in North 

 America and occurs as a rare straggler on this side of the Atlantic. 



The Rhyncheans (Rhyncha>a, Cuv.) — 

 Are African and Indian birds, the mandibles of which are nearly equal, a little arched at the end, with 

 the nasal grooves extending to the tip of the upper one, which has no third furrow. Their toes are 

 not palmatcd. To the port of the Snipes, they conjoin more vivid colours, and are particularly 

 remarkable for the ocellated spots which adorn the quill-feathers of their wings and tail. 



They are found of different medleys of co'our, which Gmelin brought together as so many varieties of one 

 species {Sc. capentis), and which Temminck also believes to be the same at different ages. One perfectly distinct 

 has, liowever, been received from Brazil (Wt. hilarea, Val.) 



The Godwits (Liniosa, Bechst.) — 



Have a straight hill, sometimes a little arcuated upwards, and still longer than in the Snipes, the 



nasal groove extending almost to the tip, which is rather soft and depressed, but without additional 



furrow, or punetation. The external toes are palmated at base. Their form is much more attenuated, 



and legs considerably more elevated, than in the Snipes, and they frequent salt marshes and the shores 



of the ocean [changing to rufous on the under-parls and partially above in the breeding season, as in 



many Sandpipers, to which their gregarious habits are more nearly related than to those of the Snipes. 



Two species are not uncommon on the British shores, viz., the Bar-tailed Godwit (L. rufa), which breeds more 

 to the north, and abounds during the seasons of passage, and throughout the winter ; and the Black-tailed Godwit 

 (L. melanura), which is much taller, with a longer bill, and (in old specimens) a pectinated middle claw; the 

 distal half of its tail is black, and it does not acquire so bright a rufous in the spring. This bird breeds in the 

 British marshes, and can pick up and subsist on barley, upon which numbers are fed that are brought from Hol- 

 land to the London markets. There are several others.] 



The Sandpipers (Calidris, Cuv.; Tringa,* Tem.) — 

 Have the tip of the beak depressed, and the nasal furrow very long, as in the Godwits, hut the mandi- 

 hles in general are not longer than the head ; their toes, slightly bordered, have no palmation at the 

 base, and the back -toe hardly reaches to the ground ; their legs but moderately elevated, and abbre- 

 viated form, impart a heavier carriage than that of the Godwits. Their size also is much smaller. 

 [The author separates his group Pelidua, merely on the character of having the beak a trifle longer 

 than the head, a difference which in several species depends merely .on age or sex; the females of all 

 the present family having a proportionally longer beak than the males, besides exceeding them a little 

 in stature. 



Numerous species are found, more or less regularly, on the British shores : the principal of which are— the 

 Knot Sandpiper (TV. canutm), the size of a Snipe, and ashy«grey above, white below, with some dusky spots on 

 the breast in winter, suffused with bright ferruginous in the spring ; bill short and straight ; it is a common species, 

 and occurs in large flocks during the seasons of passage and through the winter, retiring further north to breed. 

 The Purple Sandpiper (Tr. maritima), is smaller and less gregarious, and prefers rocky shores; back empurpled, 

 the feathers margined with greyish during the winter. The rest are placed by the author in his Pelidua. The 

 Purre Sandpiper (TV. variabilis), still smaller, with a rather longer and more arcuated bill, coloured in winter like 



* The lalter name is generally adopted. — Ed. 



