SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. I55 



a succession of hoarse, rasping scaipes which have a peculiarly start- 

 ling effect on inexperienced nerves. 



In the springtime— and occasionally in autumn also— Wilson's 

 Snipe mounts to a considerable height above his favorite meadows and 

 darts downward with great velocity, making at each descent a low yet 

 penetrating, tremulous sound which suggests the winnowing of a domes- 

 tic Pigeon's wings, or, if heard at a distance, the bleating of a goat, and 

 which is thought to be produced by the rushing of the air through the 

 wings of the Snipe. This performance may be sometimes witnessed in 

 broad daylight when the weather is stormy, but ordinarily it is re- 

 served for the morning and evening twilight and for moonlight nights, 

 when it is often kept up for hours in succession. 



Besides this "drumming" or "bleating," as it is called, the Snipe, 

 while mating, sometimes makes another peculiar sound, a kuk-huk- 

 kuk-kuk-kup, evidently vocal and occasionally accompanying a slow, 

 labored, and perfectly direct flight, at the end of which the bird alights 

 on a tree or fence post for a few moments. — William Brewster. 



The European Snipe {229. GalUnaf/o gallinago) inhabits the northern 

 parts of the Old World, is of frequent occurrence in Greenland, and accidental 

 in the Bermudas. 



231. Macrorhamphusgriseus (6^m6^.). Dowitcher. (See Figs. 

 25, a, 26, c.) Ad. in summtr.—\jY)\)QY parts, tertials, and wing-coverts black, the 

 feathers edged or barred with ochraceous-buft" or rufous ; rump, upper tail- 

 coverts, and tail barred with black and more or less ochraceous-buff ; prima- 

 ries fuscous ; under parts dull, pale rufous, whitish on the belly, more or less 

 spotted and barred with black. Ad. in winter. — Upper parts brownish gray ; 

 rump and tail barred with black and white; throat and breast washed with 

 ashy, belly white, sides and under tail-coverts barred with black. //«.— Upper 

 parts black, the feathers edged with rufous ; rmnp and tail barred with black 

 and white, and sometimes washed with rufous ; secondaries widely edged with 

 white; under parts more or less washed with ochraceous-buft and obscurely 

 spotted with blackish. L., 10-50 ; W., 5-75 ; Tar., 1-30 ; B., 2-05-2-50. 



Remarks. — The barred tail and tail-coverts, with the peculiar flattened 

 pitted tip of the bill, are characteristic of this and the next species. 



Range. — Eastern North America, breeding within the Arctic Circle and 

 wintering from Florida to South America. 



Washington, casual, one specimen, Sept. Long Island, common T. V. 

 May ; July to Sept. 15. 



Eggs, four, light buff"y olive, distinctly spotted and speckled, especially 

 about the larger end, with deep brown, 1-65 x 1-13 (Ridgw.). 



The Dowitchers are among our best-known Bay Birds. Thev 

 migrate in compact flocks which are easily attracted to decoys by an 

 imitation of their call. Mud-flats and bars exposed by the falling tide 

 are their chosen feeding grounds. On the Gulf coast of Florida I have 



