184 WADING BIRDS. 



with dark brown, the spots crowded into a stripe on the lores. 

 Front of the neck, sides of the breast, flanks, and tail covertS;, 

 marked with scattered round spots of dark brown, larger, and form- 

 ing bars under the wings. Inner wing coverts barred with white 

 and clove-brown. In some specimens the black bars of the tail are 

 very broad and irregular, becoming blotched and zig-zag. — In 

 yotm^ birds, wliich form more than two thirds of all those brought to 

 the Boston Market, the upper plumage is more broadly edged with 

 dilute rufous ; the bars on the scapulars less defined ; the marginal 

 spots on the feathers of the top of the back wholly wanting. The 

 neck cinereous, faintly tinged with dark brown : stripe over the eye, 

 and chin, nearly white ; sides of the neck, throat, and top of the 

 breast pale grey, tinged with very dilute rufous, and with a few, 

 very small and indistinct or clouded specks of clove-brown. Breast 

 and all the lower parts v/hite, tinged with rufous ; the vent spotted 

 with black. The tail handsomely tipt with rufous, with the last 

 black bar in zig-zag. 



Subgenus. — Scolopax. ( True Snipes.) 



With the legs of moderate length, and a small naked space above 

 the knee; all the toes are cleft; the hind nail acute and projecting 

 over the toe. Tail of from 12 to 16, 18, or even 24 feathers ! The 

 young similar to the adult; and there is no change of colors in 

 moulting. The feathers present generally a mixture of black, white, 

 rufous, and cinereous. 



The Snipes, merely associated by pairs, or solitary, dwell in open 

 marshes, in bogs, and on the margins of rivers, as well as by pools 

 of fresh water; they frequent damp, and sometimes also dry 

 prairies, but have no predilection for the sea coast. As they always 

 hide in the grass, they are not perceived until started. Their flight 

 is high, rapid, and irregular. The species are few, but some of them 

 spread over the whole globe. 



