SCOLOPACID.E — THE SNIPE FAMILY — RHYACOPHILUS. 281 



gravelly bars along running brooks, and rarely appearing near the sea-coast. The 

 scarcity of clear rivulets in Southern California may be the reason Vv^hy these birds 

 are not found there, as they go much farther south in the interior in winter. Dr. 

 Cooper has seen them in May on mountain streams in Santa Clara Valley, where 

 they are supposed by him to have had nests. 



This species probably does not winter in any portion of the United States, and 

 none are recorded after October. It was found in August by Mr. Dresser on a sand- 

 bank in the Rio Grande, near Matamoras, and none were seen there at any other 

 time. During April he often found them at the small pools and on the banks of the 

 small streams near San Antonio. A single specimen is recorded as having been taken 

 in August in Arizona. Mr. J. A. Allen noticed this species in Eastern Kansas in the 

 early part of May, and found it there (^uite common. He again met with it during 

 the second Aveek in August at Lake Pass in Colorado, and in September in the Val- 

 ley of Salt Lake. Mr. Eidgway also met with it occasionally in Utah and Nevada. 

 It arrived in the Truckee Valley May 13, and was noticed in Parley's Park in the 

 Wahsatch Mountains in August. It was much less numerous than Tr'mgoides macu- 

 lar'ms. 



In Long Island, according to Giraud, it is not very abundant, yet by no means 

 rare. It is distributed singly or in pairs along such creeks as are reached by the 

 tide ; and is also observed about pools and rivulets more remote from the sea. It 

 seldom visits the beach, and is very rarely met with in the salt-marshes on the bays. 

 It often takes up its abode near the habitations of man, preferring his society to that 

 of the numerous species of shore-birds frequenting the seaside. It is not considered 

 game, and is not hunted, and thus becomes quite familiar. When nearly approached 

 it flies but a short distance before it re-alights, to resume its occupation of probing 

 the soft mud for worms and minute shellfish, which abound in its favorite haunts. 

 It also resorts to decayed logs for the purpose of procuring grubs, and from this 

 peculiarity of habit it is by some known as the " Wood Tattler." When surprised it 

 utters a sharp whistling note, raises its wings, and runs nimbly over the miry ground. 

 If closely pursued, it retreats to the opposite side of the pond, arranges its feathers, 

 and soon resumes its usual gentle manners. This bird is very active on the wing, 

 and may sometimes be seen darting after winged insects, which it is very expert in 

 catching; and when flying, its long and gracefully curved wings add greatly to the 

 effect of its neat plumage. It arrives on Long Island in May, and is not seen there 

 after September. 



It passes its brief period of reproduction in the extended region north of latitude 

 44°, but to what extent north is uncertain. Eichards'on met with a single individual 

 at Great Bear Lake, in latitude 64° 30', May 14, 182G ; and Mr. Dall noticed it at 

 ISTulato on about the same parallel. Mr. Ross found it common on the Mackenzie 

 River, and Captain Blakiston observed it on the Saskatchewan Plains. It is found 

 throughout the summer — or from May to September — in the neighborhood of Calais, 

 Me., and Mr. Boardman has no doubt that it breeds there. Yet in the summer of 

 1873, from May through June — as Mr. Brewster informs us — none of these birds 

 were to be seen in the vicinity of Lake Umbagog ; but in the latter part of July, 

 when the migrations southward began, they appeared there in large numbers, appa- 

 rently having come from a distance. He naturally inferred that few or none breed 

 in that neighborhood. 



Wilson states that this species is found in the summer in damp meadows among 

 our highest mountains, from Kentucky to Xew Y'ork, on the mossy margins of moun- 

 tain springs. He found it unsuspicious, and permitting a near approach without 



VOL. I. — 36 



