352 



BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



IReb^breaeteb Snipe. 







The Red-breasted Snipe {Ereimetes griseus, Gmelin) is 

 a rare straggling autumn migrant to the British Islands, 

 and inhabits the North Central Nearctic Region. The 

 adult in summer has the upper back and scapulars black, 

 the feathers margined and varied with light reddish-brown 

 and white; lower back, rump, and rectrices white, with 

 transverse bars of black ; crown, blackish-brown, margined 

 with light reddish-brown ; lores, brownish ; superciliary 

 stripe and chin, white, suffused with chestnut-buff; shaft 

 of first primary feathers, white ; front neck, breast, and 

 flanks, light bufifish-chestnut, spotted and barred with deep 

 brown ; centre of abdomen, whitish ; irides, hazel ; bill, 

 deep brown ; legs and feet, olive-brown. Length, about 

 ten inches. 



