THE GRAY-BAOK. 441 
DESCRIPTION. 
Large; bill straight, rather longer than the head, compressed, slightly enlarged 
at the tip; upper mandible with the nasal groove extending to near the tip; legs 
moderate; tibia with its lower third part naked; neck moderate; wing long; tail 
short; toes free at base, flattened beneath, widely margined; hind toe slender, small; 
entire upper parts light-gray, with lanceolate, linear, and irregular spots of black, 
and others of pale-reddish; rump and upper tail coverts white, with transverse nar- 
row bands and crescent-shaped spots of black; under parts light brownish-red, 
paler in the middle of the abdomen; under tail coverts, tibial feathers, flanks, axil- 
lary feathers, and under wing coverts white, generally with spots and transverse 
bars of brownish-black; quills brownish-black, with their shafts white; tail light 
brownish-cinereous (without spots or bars); all the feathers edged with white, and 
frequently with a second sub-edging of dark-brown; bill brownish-black; legs 
greenish-black. 
Young and Winter Plumage.— Upper parts brownish-ashy, darker on the back, 
every feather having a sub-terminal edging of brownish-black, and tipped with dull 
ashy-white; rump white, with crescents of black; under parts dull ashy-white, 
nearly pure on the abdomen, but with numerous longitudinal lines, and small spots 
of dark-brown on the breast and neck; sides with crescent-shaped and irregular 
spots of brownish-black; an obscure line of dull-white over and behind the eye. 
Total length (from tip of bill to end of tail), about ten inches; wing, six and a 
half; tail, two and a half; bill from gape, one and a half; tarsus, one and a quarter 
inches. Female larger? 
This is the largest of the Sandpipers of the United States, and appears to be 
restricted to the shores of the Atlantic in this division of the continent of America. 
We have never seen it from the Pacific Coast. 
In the United States, this bird is known as the Red-breasted Snipe, or sometimes 
as the Gray-backed Snipe, though we have never heard the name “‘ Knot” applied 
to it, which appears to be a common appellation of the same species in Europe, and 
is given by American authors. This is one of the few species of birds which appears 
to be absolutely identical with a species of Europe, and is of very extensive diffu- 
sion over the world, especially in the season of southern migration. 
The bird has received a variety of names, of which the very first appears to be 
that adopted at the head of this article. 
This species appears in New England only in the migra 
tions in spring and autumn. It is only seen on the shore, 
and with us only in small flocks of eight or ten. I have 
had no opportunities of observing its habits, and will give 
the description by Wilson : — 
“In activity it is superior to the preceding, and traces the flow- 
ing and recession of the waves along the sandy beach with great 
nimbleness, wading and searching among the loosened particles for 
its favorite food, which is a small, thin, oval, bivalve shell-fish, of a 
white or pearl color, and not larger than the seed of an apple. 
