NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 127 



L 



the markings not larger than a pin's head; size from 1.40 to 1.50 long by 

 1. 10 to 1. 12 broad. This Plover seems to have been badly named, for it 

 certainly is a prairie bird, inhabiting the most barren prairies as v^ell as 

 the watered regions of the Western United States, from the plains to the 

 Pacific. It can readily be recognized by its large size, the' lack of rings 

 on the breast, with the uniform, pale yellowish-brown above. It is quite 

 independent of water, and is said to be not the least aquatic, even on the 

 Pacific coast; it frequents the plain, never the marsh or beach. Nests any- 

 where on the prairie in June and July. Mr. C. J. Maynard is credited 

 with having taken the first and only specimen of this bird east of the Mis- 

 sissippi, at Key West, Plorida, in December, 1870. It is also called 

 " Prairie Plover." 



525. American Woodcock — philohela minor. Creamy or buff, 

 irregularly and thickly spotted with pale, reddish-brown of varying shades ; 

 pyriform, but more rotund than those of most of the small waders, and 

 some are quite broad, varying from 1. 40 to 1.55 long by I. 15 to 1.20 

 broad. The usual number of eggs is four. This noted game bird fre- 

 quents the bogs, swampy fields, and wet woodlands of P^astern United 

 States and Canada, and breeds throughout its range. The nests are mere 

 depressions in some dry spot in swampy land, generally under the cover of a 

 clump of briers or other wild shrubbery, often in more open places. The 

 eggs of the Woodcock are laid early in April, and in some localities not 

 until sometime in May. In Ohio, I have found eggs as early as April 3, 

 and young have been seen as early as April 9, near Cleveland, Ohio. 

 There are records of eggs of this species averaging in size 1.80 by 1.25, 

 but I have never seen any so large, although they exhibit considerable 

 variations. The Woodcock is often called "Bog Sucker," from its habit 

 of boring in the mud for worms and animalculai of which its food consists. 



Hab. Eastern United States and C.^iiad.-i. North to Nova Scotia ; northwest to .Minnesota; Fort Rice, 

 Dakota; west to Kansas, Nebraska, Indian Territory and Texas. 



526 «. Wilson's Snipe — gallinago media wilsoni. Varying from a 

 grayish-olive to greenish-brown and yellowish-ash, spotted and blotched 

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

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

 sharp scratchy lines of blackish and shell spots, hardly noticeable. The 

 shape of the eggs is pyriform; three or four in number; size from 1.50 to 

 1.60 long by 1.05 to i.io broad. This favorite game bird, well-known as 

 the Jack Snipe, breeds from Northern United States northward. It is 

 found in open and marshy places in North America at large, but through- 



