al 
454 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
to the water, and swim off with great activity. They all 
leave New England in October, when they are exceedingly 
fat and well-flavored. 
GAMBETTA, Kavr. 
Gambetta, Kaur, Entw. Europ. Thierw. (1829). (Type Scolopax calidris, L. 
Gray.) 
Bill much attenuated towards and tapering to the end, the extreme tip decurved ; 
both culmen and gonys, however, bent upwards from the middle; the lateral 
grooves of upper bill broad, shallow, and not extending to the middle; that of lower 
reaching about as far; feathers on side of both mandibles extend to about the same 
point, but fall short of nostrils; those on chin extend as far as middle of nostril; bill 
nearly as long as the tarsus, which is one and a half times the length of middle toe; 
outer toe webbed to first joint; the inner web very short; bare portion of the tibia 
equal to the toes; tip of tail about opposite the middle of outstretched tarsi; legs 
yellow. 
GAMBETTA MELANOLEUCA. — Bonaparte. 
The Telltale; Stone Snipe; Greater Yellow-legs. 
Scolopax melanoleucus, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 659. 
Totanus melanoleucus Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 68. 
Gambetta melanoleuca, Bonaparte. Comptes Rendus (Sept., 1856). 
Scolopax vociferus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VII. (1818) 57. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Bill longer than the head, rather slender, curved towards the tip; wings rather 
long, first quill longest; tail short; neck and legs long; toes moderate, margined 
and flattened underneath, connected at base by membranes, the larger of which 
unites the outer and middle toe; hind toe small; claws short, blunt; grooves in both 
mandibles extending about half their length; entire upper parts cinereous of various 
shades, dark in many specimens in full plumage, generally light with white lines on 
the head and neck, and with spots and edgings of dull-white on the other upper 
parts; lower back brownish-black; rump and upper tail coverts white, generally 
with more or less imperfect transverse narrow bands of brownish-black; under 
parts white, with longitudinal narrow stripes on the neck, and transverse cres- 
cent lanceolate and sagittate spots and stripes on the breast and sides; abdomen 
pure-white; quills brownish-black with a purplish lustre, shaft of first primary 
white; secondaries and tertiaries tipped and with transverse bars and spots of ashy- 
white; tail white, with transverse narrow bands of brownish-black, wider and 
darker on the two middle feathers; bill brownish-black, lighter at the base; legs 
yellow; iris dark-brown. 
Total length, about fourteen inches; wing, seven and a half to eight; tail, three 
and a quarter to three and a half; bill, two and a quarter; tarsus, two and a half 
inches. ; 
Hab, — Entire temperate regions of North America; Mexico. 
