86 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



bare skeleton of a fowl that has been picked and turned 

 yellowish, resting on its breast-bone, the color of a with- 

 ered black or red oak leaf. Again I thought it must be 

 such a leaf or cluster of leaves peculiarly curved and cut 

 or torn on the upper edges. 



The chubby bird dashed away zigzag, carrying its long 

 tongue-case carefully before it, over the witch-hazel 

 bushes. This is its walk, — the portion of the shore, the 

 narrow strip, still kept open and unfrozen between the 

 water's edge and the ice. The sportsman might discover 

 its neighborhood by these probings. 



Wilson's snipe 



Feb. 27, 1853. Mr. Herbert is strenuous that I say 

 "ruffed grouse " for " partridge" and " hare " for " rab- 

 bit." He says of the snipe, "I am myself satisfied that 

 the sound is produced by the fact that the bird, by some 

 muscular action or other, turns the quill-feathers edge- 

 wise, as he drops plumb through the air ; and that while 

 in this position, during his accelerated descent, the vibra- 

 tion of the feathers and the passage of the air between 

 them gives utterance to this wild humming sound." 



April 10, 1854. There are many snipes now feeding 

 in the meadows, which you come close upon, and then they 

 go off with hoarse cr-r-r-ack cr-r-r-ack. They dive down 

 suddenly from a considerable height sometimes when 

 they alight. 



April 18, 1854. Scared up snipes on the meadow's 

 edge, which go off with their strange zigzag, crazy flight 

 and a distressed sound, — craik craik or cr-r-acJc cr-r- 

 rack. One booms now at 3 p. m. They circle round and 



