182 WADING BIRDS. 



and coleoptera, for which, no doubt they probe the mud 

 and sphagnum of the bogs and marshes, a habit which they 

 also pursue while here, on their way to the south, particu- 

 larly collecting the larvae of aquatic insects, such as JUir 

 hellul(E, and others. The nest and eggs of this species are 

 yet unknown. The ovaries in females killed in May were 

 already swelled to the size of peas ; and by the 20th of July, 

 or beo-innino- of Augrust, thev revisit the shores of New 

 England and the Middle States, in large flocks recruited by 

 their young, already full grown, in good condition for the 

 table, and are at all times greatly esteemed for their ex- 

 cellent flavor. 



The Red-Breasted Snipes are always seen associated in 

 flocks, and though many are bred in the interior around the 

 great northern lakes, they now all assemble towards the sea 

 coast, as a region that affords them an inexhaustible supply 

 of their favorite food of insects, molusca, and small shell- 

 fish ; and here they continue, or a succession of wandering 

 and needy bands, until the commencement of cold weather 

 advertises them of the approach of famine ; when, by de- 

 grees, they recede beyond the southern limits of the Union. 

 While here, they appear very lively, performing their aerial 

 evolutions over the marshes, at a great height sometimes in 

 the air, uttering at the same time a loud, shrill and quiver- 

 ing whistle, scarcely distinguishable from that of the Yellow 

 Legged Tatler, (something like 'te-te-te, 'te-te~te.) The 

 same loud and querulous whistling is also made as they 

 rise from the ground, when they usually make a number 

 of circuitous turns in the air, before they descend. At 

 all times gregarious, in the autumn and spring they some- 

 times settle so close together, that several dozens have 

 been killed at a single shot. While feeding on the shores 

 or sand-bars, they may be sometimes advantageously ap- 

 proached by a boat, of which, very naturally, they have but 



