

No. V.] ZOOLOGY. 



687 



breeding places of the bird being in the northern regions, but it is not mentioned by 

 Captain Sabine as visiting the Islands of the Arctic Sea. 



Totanus Vociferus. Tell-tale Godwit. 



Previous to the publication of Wilson, we had no further information respecting 

 this species, than is contained in a short note in the Artie Zoology, where it is said 

 to have been received from the coast of Labrador, under the name of Stone Curlew ; 

 on this authority it was introduced by Gmelin into the Systema Natures, as Scolopax 

 Melanoleuca. Wilson called it Scolopax Vociferus ; it belongs, however, to the di- 

 vision of the Genus, now known as Totanus. The Tell-tale Godwit, or Snipe, breeds 

 in the American States in marshy grounds, and has acquired celebrity from the pro- 

 tection it affords to the race of aquatic birds from the attacks of the sportsman, being 

 very vigilant : when it discovers the approach of any person towards its haunts, it 

 rises on the wing, and, by a continued uttering of its very shrill notes, gives the 



alarm to the ducks and other game which are within hearing at their feed, when they 

 immediately take flight. These birds retire to the southward in the winter season.' The 

 specimen received was in a very perfect state ; it measured sixteen inches in length ; 

 the bill is two inches and a quarter long, having the upper mandible a little bent at 

 the end ; the throat, belly, and vent, are white ; the fore part of the neck is marked 

 with longitudinal stripes of dark brown ; the sides under the wings are marked across 

 with bands of black, the white progressively predominating towards the thighs ; the 

 head and back of the neck are dark* slightly marked with white ; the back, scapulars 

 and wing coverts, are dark brown, spotted with white, the white spots being disposed 

 along the edges of all the feathers ; the primaries are black, the shaft of the first is 

 white, of the others, black ; the rump is white ; the tail feathers are beautifully 



crossed with alternate 



legs 



near two inches above the knee ; the tarse is two inches and a quarter long; the feet, 

 with their fore toes, long ; the hind toe a quarter of an inch long ; the legs are said to 

 be a rich orange colour. 



Totanus Noveboracensis. Red-breasted Snipe. 



This bird, which has been described by Pennant, and, after him, by Latham 

 and Gmelin, as the Scolopax Noveboracensis, as well as the Scolopax Grisea, or 

 Brown Snipe, breeds in the North, visiting the temperate parts of the United 

 States at spring and fall, in its passage from and to its winter quarters. It 

 is in high estimation for the table, and is eagerly sought after by sportsmen, 

 on the bars and shores of the large rivers and places within the influence of the 

 tide, where it feeds. Two specimens, probably in perfect summer plumage, were 

 sent home, differing from each other only in size, one exceeding the other an 



