

NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 135 



sportsmen who depend upon the gun. This is, I believe, principally from the fact 

 that the bird is of nocturnal habits, but is often forced to fly from the ground in 

 daytime. The Woodcock is often called Bog-sucker, from its habits of boring in the 

 mud for worms and animalculse, of which its food consists. The eggs are creamy 

 or buff, irregularly and thickly spotted with pale, reddish-brown of varying shades; 

 pyriform, but more rotund than those of most of the small waders, and some are 

 quite broad, varying from 1.40 to 1.55 long by 1.15 to 1.20 broad. The usual number 

 of eggs is four. Four selected specimens measure 1.58x1.21,- 1.53x1.14, 1.57x1.17, and 

 1.53x1.20. 



[229.] EUROPEAN SNIPE. Gallinago 'ffallinago (Linn.) Geog. Dist. North- 

 ern portions of the Old World; frequent occurrence in Greenland. Accidental in the 

 Bermudas. 



A species of general distribution over Europe. In the breeding season it is found 

 in the more northern portions and in the winter months it inhabits the southern 

 regions. A common game bird on the British Islands, breeding in greater or less 

 abundance in all parts of England and Scotland, especially to the north on the 

 Orkney and Shetland Islanus. In summer it is found on the Faroes, Iceland and in 

 Greenland. Breeds in the northern portions of Russia and Siberia aryl as far south 

 as France, Germany, Holland and Hungary. The nests of this Snipe are placed on 

 the ground in tall grass by the side of some pond or shallow water, or amidst the 

 long heather which grows upon the hill side. Isiests have been found at an eleva- 

 tion of a thousand feet above the plain. The full complement of eggs is four; they 

 have a ground-color varying from yellowish-white to greenish-yellow. The mark- 

 ings are of several shades of reddish or chestnut-brown, scattered chiefly about the 

 larger end. The eggs are pyriform in shape and quite pointed at the smaller end. 

 Four eggs collected near Lancaster, England, measure 1.54x1.14, 1.53x1.08, 1.59x1.15, 

 1.51x1.10. 



230. WILSON'S SNIPE. Gallinago delicata (Ord.) Geog. Dist. Whole of 

 North and Middle America, breeding from Northern United States northward ; south 

 in winter to West Indies and Northern South America. 



The American Snipe is a favorite game bird, well known by the name of Jack 

 Snipe. It is also known as the English Snipe. Throughout the greater part of the 

 United States it occurs only during the migrations. Breeds from about latitude 45 

 northward to Hudson Bay region on the east and as far west and north as Sitka, 

 Alaska, and Fort Anderson. The birds frequent low open places, such as wet 

 meadows and marshes, and muddy banKS of streams. They are found in small com- 

 panies of from three to twelve, technically called "wisps." Solitary birds are not 

 unfrequently met with. No other game birds are more erratic and eccentric than 

 these. They are extremely fickle in the choice of their feeding ground ; one day they 

 may swarm in a certain locality, and the next none are to be discovered. Their 

 flight is strong, but, especially at the beginning, erratic. They almost invariably 

 fly against the wind, and lie closest on still, clear days. Occasionally they alight 

 on trees or fences. Their note, uttered as they rise, resembles the word "escape." 

 The nest is only a slight depression in the grass or moss of a bog. The eggs vary 

 from a grayish-olive to greenish-brown and yellowish-ash, spotted and blotched 

 with reddish-brown, Briber, and sometimes with lines of black; the markings are 

 bold and numerous, particularly on the larger end, usually also sharp scratchy lines 

 of blackish and shell-spots, hardly noticeable. The shape of the eggs is pyriform; 

 three or four in number; sizes range from 1.50 to 1.60 long by 1.05 to 1.10 broad. 



