454 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



to the water, and swim off with great activity. They all 

 leave New England in October, when they are exceedingly 

 fat and well-flavored. 



GAMBETTA, Kaup. 



Gamhetta, Kaup, Entw. Europ. Thierw. (1829). (Type Scolopax calidris, L. 

 Gray.) 



Bill much attenuated towards and tapering to the end, the extreme tip decun'ed ; 

 both culmen and ffonys, however, bent upwards from the middle; the lateral 

 grooves of upper bill broad, shallow, and not extending to the middle; that of lower 

 reaching about as far; feathers on side of both mandibles extend to about the same 

 point, but fall short of nostrils; those on chin extend as far as middle of nostril; bill 

 nearly as lung as the tarsus, which is one and a half times the length of middle toe; 

 outer toe webbed to first joint; the inner web very short; bare portion of the tibia 

 equal to the toes ; tip of tail about opposite the middle of outstretched tarsi ; legs 

 yellow. 



GAMBETTA MELANOLEUCA. — Bonaparte. 



The Telltale; Stone Snipe; Greater Tellow-legs. 



Scolopax melanoleucus, Gmelin. Sj'st. Nat., I. (1788) 659. 

 Tetanus melanoleucus Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 68. 

 Gambetta melanoleuca, Bonaparte. Comptes Rendus (Sept., 1856). 

 Scolopax vocifei-us, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1813) 57. 



Description. 



Bill longer than the head, rather slender, cun'ed towards the tip ; wings rather 

 long, first quill longest; tail short; neck and legs long; toes moderate, margined 

 and flattened underneath, connected at base by membranes, the larger of which 

 unites the outer and middle toe; hind toe small; claws short, blunt; grooves in both 

 mandibles extending about half their length; entire upper parts cinereous of various 

 shades, dark in many specimens in full plumage, generally light with white lines on 

 the head and neck, and with spots and edgings of dull-white on the other upper 

 parts; lower back brownish-black; rump and upper tail coverts white, generally 

 with more or less imperfect transverse narrow bands of brownish-black; under 

 parts white, with longitudinal narrow stripes on the neck, and transverse cres- 

 cent lanceolate and sagittate spots and stripes on the breast and sides; abdomen 

 pure-white; quills brownish-black with a purplish lustre, shaft of first primary 

 white ; secondaries and tertiaries tipped and with transverse bars and spots of ashy- 

 white; tail white, with transverse narrow bands of brownish-black, wider and 

 darker on the two middle feathers; bill brownish-black, lighter at the base; legs 

 yellow; iris dark-brown. 



Total length, about fourteen inches; wing, seven and a half to eight; tail, three 

 and a quarter to three and a half; bill, two and a quarter; tarsus, two and a half 

 inches. 



Hab. — Entire temperate regions of North America ; Mexico. 



