156 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Bgcassine, Buffon, Hist. Nat. Ois., vol. 7, 17S0, p. 488 (migrant). 



BScasse des Savannes, Descourtjxz, Voy. Nat, vol. 2, 1809, pp. 212-214 

 (Haiti). 



Scolopax frenata, Ritter, Naturh. Reis. Westind. Insel Hayti, 1836, p. 157 

 (specimen). — Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1S92, p. 317 (listed). 



Gallinago delicata, Verriul, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1909, p. 356 

 (San Lorenzo, El Valle). 



Capella gallinago delicata, Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 80, 

 1928, p. 496 (Etang Miragoane, Trou Caiman, Artibonite Plain, Port-de-Paix). 



Migrant from the north ; abundance uncertain. 



Verrill writes that this snipe was " abundant at San Lorenzo and 

 at El Valle, where in the broad wet savannas I found the best snipe 

 shooting I have ever seen." This was between December 29, 1906, 

 and January 19, 1907. Abbott saw several at the eastern end of 

 Lake Enriquillo between October 1 and 6, 1919. Hartert inform^ 

 us that there is a skin in the Tring Museum taken by Kaempfer at 

 Villa Kiva, January 6, 1924. 



Deshayes wrote to Buffon that the becassine was migrant remain- 

 ing through the winter until February, and that a month after 

 arrival they become so fat that they are heavy as quail. Descourtilz 

 describes this species as the becasse des savannes. Abbott secured 

 two skins at Trou Caiman, March 10, 1918. Bond writes that he 

 found them at the Etang Miragoane, Trou Caiman, on the Arti- 

 bonite Plain, and at Port-de-Paix. 



The Wilson's snipe or jack snipe is found in wet meadows or 

 open marshes where it remains hidden until startled when it springs 

 into the air with a harsh, explosive note and darts away with swift, 

 erratic flight that after a few yards becomes straight. The bird may 

 pitch again nearby, or may swing back overhead and pass to some 

 other feeding ground. Its sudden rise is disconcerting and though 

 the despair of the tyro provides excellent sport for the expert wing 

 shot. 



The bird is blackish brown above, streaked longitudinally with 

 buffy brown, and white below with mottled breast and barred sides. 

 Its peculiar mark is the long straight bill with flexible tip, with 

 which it probes in the mud, and the large eyes set far back on the 

 sides of the head. The wing measures from 117 to 135 mm. 



Subfamily Numeniinae 



[PHAEOPUS BOREALIS (J. R. Forster) 

 ESKIMO CURLEW 



Scolopax borealis J. R. Forster, Philos. Trans., vol. 62, 1772, p. 431 (Fort 

 Albany, Hudson Bay). 



Numenius borealis, Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, p. 322 (listed). 



