238 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



grassy -meadow-living, long-billed, very much mottled, brownish 

 snipe, with a buff breast and white belly. The eyes are above 

 the ears, and the mottling of the head is so arranged as to give 

 a central, lengthened, light band between two darker ones. 

 This is one of the most noted game birds, because only expert 

 gunners can shoot it as it starts from the ground in its crooked 

 but swift flight. It is found only where the ground is so water 

 soaked as to give it a chance to probe with its soft, sensitive 

 bill, and where clumps of vegetation will enable it to hide from 

 view. (" English Snipe.") 



Length, 11; wing, 5 (4J-5',); tail, 2[; tarsus, 1|; culnien, 2]-2|. 

 North America; breeding from tin- northern United States ncnthward, and 

 wintering from Illinois and South Camlina to northern South America. 



3. Dowitcher (231. Macrorhdmphits gr}seus). — A common, 

 large, shore-living, long-billed, long-legged, generally varie- 



gated. V)rownish-bodied snipe. 



Dowitcher 



witli darker wings, lighter, 

 much-barred tail, and nearly 

 white belly. In Avinter, the 

 upper i)arts and breast are 

 plain gray with almost no 

 traces of black or bay, 

 wliile ill summer the upper 

 I cuts are much mottled with 

 these colors. During migra- 

 tions this bird is found in 

 large flocks on the mud flats, 

 exposed by the falling tide. 

 (Hed-breasted Snipe, sum- 

 mer; Gray Snipe, winter.) 



Length, 11 ; wing, 5^ (SJ-SJ); 

 tarsus, 1^ ; culmen, 2-2 L Kastern 

 North Ameiiea ; breeding in the 

 .\rctic regions, and wintering from 

 Florida to Brazil. 



4. Long-billed Dowitcher (232. Macrorhdmphussrolojylceus). — 

 In winter this bird and the last are practically alike except in 



