alone, is due much of the charm that jack snipe shoot- 

 ing affords. While these birds are commonly called 

 jack snipe or English snipe, their proper name is Wil- 

 son snipe, but like the rose, no matter what the name, 

 they are just as gamy and just as delicious. The Wil- 

 son snipe migrates here to but little extent, and these 

 migrations are altitudinal rather than latitudinal. They 

 breed commonly in all the mountain valleys and even 

 as low down as on the Sacramento marshes south of 

 the city of the same name. I found a pair breeding a 

 few years ago in the low hills of San Luis Obispo coun- 

 ty not half a mile from the ocean beach. 



Color Head, black, with a central stripe of brown; 

 back, a mixture of dark brown, pale brown, yellow and 

 dull white; greater wing-coverts, dark brown, tipped 

 with white; throat, dull white, barred with brown; a 

 dark stripe running from the base of the bill across the 

 eye to the occiput; under parts of the wings, dull white, 

 barred with black; tail feathers, dark brown, tipped 

 with white, and with a sub-terminal bar of black. No 

 web between the toes. 



Nest and Eggs The nest is a very crude affair made 

 on the ground and with but little lining of any kind. It 

 contains from three to four grayish eggs, blotched 

 with brown. 



Measurements Total length, 11 inches; wing, 5*; 

 bill, 3 inches. 



THE DOWITCHER, OR RED-BREASTED 

 SNIPE 



ERRATA 



In the make-up of a few pages on the shore birds 

 the scientific names have become transposed. They 

 should read : 

 Page 112. Dowitcher (Macrorhampus scolopaceus). 



" 114. Yellow-legs (Totanus melanoleucus.). 



" " Marlin (Limosa fedoa). 



" 116. Red-backed sandpiper (Tringaalpinapacifica) 



" " Willet (Symphemia Semipalmata inornata). 



the eye to the occiput; chin, dull white; breast, gray, 

 with a tinge of cinnamon red; tail, banded with dark 

 brown; a small web between the outer and middle toes, 

 extending about one-fourth down the outer toe. 



Eggs and Nest Nest made on the ground and con- 

 taining from three to four dull white eggs. 

 112 



