EED-BREASTED SNIPK. ,q, 



Coi.iiR. Adu// in spriiv/. Above, very (lai-k-brown, bfcoiiiinj; ashy on soCdiidaries and upper wing c.jverts wliidi arc 

 edged and banded witli white, with all tlie feathevs, excepting primaries, edged and banded witli chevtnut-red. liump, 

 upper tail Coverts, and tail, white, banded with dark-brown. Shaft of outer primary, wliite. Side-^of head and under parts, 

 chestnut-red, with line from bill to eye, spots, or short bars, on sides of neck, brea.<t, sides, flank<, and under tail coveris, 

 dark-browu. Under wing cjverts and axiUaries, white, banded with dark-brown. 



Adult in winltr. Ashy above with the feather^ darker centrally, and white beneath, streaked on tlie throat, breast 

 sides, and Banks with ashy. 



Youny. Quite similar to the winter adult, but darker above and mi're ashy below. Bill and iris, brown, and feet 

 greenish, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Quite variable in plumage, the above given stages representing the extremes, with all gradations of color between. 

 In spring the body feathers only are moulted and occasionally individuals, in moulting, will not assume- the red dre.ss but 

 will retain the gray throughout the suiiim;n-. These may be young liut it is not a constant jilumage wiih birds of that age 

 as they are usually red but paler than the adult. Viewed in the light of my past experience with the.se birds, which has 

 been somewhat extended, as I have handled hundreds of Ked-breasted Snipe from the Atlantic Coast and have s^ en many 

 skins from the We.st, I cannot agree with some of our distinguished ornithclogists in acccrding specific ir even varietal 

 rank to long-heaked individuals, for I have frequently seen all gradations between the two extremes known as scolopacms 

 and t/ris'rus, both in size and color. It is quite true, that on the northern coast specimens having the extremely length- 

 ened bill are comparatively rare, but in Florida there is as great a proportion of them as among any other waders subj. ct 

 toa like variation. Readily knowu by the long bill, white tail and shaft to outer quill, and other colors asdcsi;ribed. Dis- 

 tributed, in summer, throughout Arctic America; wintering from the Candinas, southward. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 11 50; stretch, lS-75; wing, 630: tail, 2 37; 

 bill, 2 62; tarsus, 1-56. Longest specimen, I'J-oO; greatest extent of wing, 20-00; longest wing, 7-10; tail, 2 6(i, hill, 3 01); 

 tarsus, 177. Shortest specimen, 10'50; smallest extent of wing, 17*50; shortest win^, 5'5(); tail, 2 13, bill, 2 24; tarsus, 

 1 35. 



DESCRIPTIOX OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 F'/jy, |)laced on the ground in a slight depression of the soil, on a little grass, etc. They are from two to four in num- 

 ber, pyriform in shape, varying from pale greenish-brown to yellowish-ash in color, .spotted and blotched irregularly, and 

 usually faintly, with light reddish-brown ami umber. Dimensions fn.m TlOx \'tl> to llSx 175. 



HABI'l'S. 



The Red-lireasted Snipe make their appeanince in Massachu.setts in autumn, from the 

 midille of August to the middle of September, varying as to the exact <late, with different 

 year.-;. In htibit, they sometimes resemble Wilson's Snipe, for they will oceasiontilly lie, 

 ([uietlv hidden, in the grass of the marshes until the sportsman approtiches (juitt! near, when 

 they will suddenly rise with a loud, cletir whistle and fly nipidly tiway. At other times, 

 however, their habits approximate more nearly to those of tlic ni;ij(irity of shore birds, for 

 they mtiy be seen feeding on the borders of pools, running nimbly about, and picking up 

 tiquatic in.sects, smtiU moUusks, etc. In the North, they are most emphatically a bird of 

 the marshes, but in the South, I found them on the beaches in company with other wading 

 liirds. 



Red-breasted Snipe are very abundant in the latter named section, being common from 

 the Caroliinis to Key West, but T fouml them nither more numerous on the sandy borders 

 of S.ilt Like in the interior of Floriila, tlian elsewhere at this season, but in spring, they 

 congregated in flocks of thousands on Indian River. This was eavlv in .May and the birds 

 were passing from the gray winter dress to (he brighter spring plumage, and then as soon as 

 their feathers were grown, which was accomplished in a very short time, they departed 

 lor the North. These Snipe arrive in Masstichusetts in spring, early in June, remtiin but 

 a day or two, then make their way to their northern breeding grounds. 



