WILSON SNIPE 351 



4.83-5.25 (122.4-133.3); bill aloug culmen 2.48-2.84 (63.0-72.0); tarsus 1.21- 

 1.33 (30.8-33.9) (ten specimens from California). Weight 3 ounces (85 grams) 

 or more (Audubon, 1842, V, p. 344). Juvenile plumage: Top of head black; 

 stripe over middle of crown, pinkish white; stripe from side of bill to eye, 

 black; cheek and chin, mixed white, black and cinnamon; rest of upper sur- 

 face of body brownish black, with broad feather-margins and markings of 

 cinnamon, buflfy brown and dull white; outer surface of closed wing dull brown 

 with broad feather tippings of pinkish buff and white; flight feathers dusky; 

 margin of wing white; throat and breast streaked with pinkish cinnamon and 

 dusky; middle of belly white; sides and flanks barred with white and dark 

 brown. Natal plumage: Bright hazel brown, darkest on upper surface of body 

 where marked irregularly with black and white; forehead at base of bill, 

 black, followed by white; spot on cheek, white; narrow streak from bill to 

 eye, and spot below angle of mouth, black; chin light buft". 



Marks for field identification — Medium-small size, long bill( 2.50 inches, 

 63.5 mm.) (fig. 64), longitudinally striped head and back (at all seasons), 

 mottled breast, white belly, dusky rump, erratic flight, sharp grating note, 

 crouching attitude and solitary rather than flocking habits; frequents grassy 

 meadows rather than open mud-flats or shores. 



Voice — A rasping scaipe, scaipe, not loud, and a yak-yak-yak-yak or ka-ka- 

 ka-ka-ka of far-reaching quality, the latter two calls being uttered chiefly or 

 exclusively during the breeding season. 



Nest — In semi-moist part of a meadow, usually placed in or at the side of 

 a tuft of grass; a mere depression lined with a few grasses. 



Eggs — 3 to 4, pear-shaped, measuring in inches, 1.50 to 1.60 by 1.05 to 1.10 

 (in millimeters, 38.1 to 40.6 by 26.6 to 28.0) (Davie, 1889, p. 110). One set 

 (four eggs) from California measures 1.48 to 1.60 by 1.12 to 1.17 (37.5 to 40.6 

 by 28.4 to 29.7), averaging 1..54 by 1.13 inches (39.0 by 28.8 mm.). Color varies 

 "from a grayish-olive to greenish-brown and yellowish-ash, spotted and 

 blotched wuth reddish-brown, umber, and sometimes with lines of black; the 

 markings are bold and numerous, particularly on the larger end, usually also 

 sharp scratchy lines of blackish and shell-spots, hardly noticeable ' ' (Davie, 

 loc. cit.). 



General distribution — North America and northern South America. Breeds 

 at the north from Newfoundland and northern Ungava to northern Mackenzie, 

 northern Yukon and northwestern Alaska, apparently following closely the 

 limits of tree growth; thence south to New Jersey, northern Indiana, northern 

 Illinois, northern Iowa, southern Colorado, northern Nevada, and south-central 

 California. Winters most abundantly in southern United States and Mexico, 

 although winter range extends to Colombia and southern Brazil in South 

 America. Normal northern limit of winter range extends from North Carolina, 

 through Arkansas and New Mexico to northern California, but individuals 

 sometimes winter about springs or streams as far north almost as the Canadian 

 boundary (Cooke, 1910, pp. 23-24; et al.). 



Distribution in California — Abundant fall, winter and spring visitant 

 throughout lowlands and to a less extent in suitable places in mountainous 

 districts. Occurs in summer and breeds in region east of Sierran crest, from 

 latitude of Lake Tahoe northward to the Oregon line and west to Lower 

 Klamath Lake; also recorded as breeding near Tejon Pass, northern Los 

 Angeles County (J. Mailliard, 1914, p. 261), and may be expected to nest in 

 appropriate places northeast of this station. Occurs in migration over practically 

 the entire state. 



