12 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 



white ; lower tail coverts white, marked with dusky ; tail light 

 brownish-gray, streaked — the central feathers darker. 



" Winter dress, upper parts brownish-gray ; throat grayish- 

 white ; fore part and sides of neck, sides of the head, and sides 

 of the body, pale brownish-gray, faintly streaked with darker; 

 rest of the lower parts white. Length seven inches and a half; 

 wing four and an eighth. 



" This bird, more familiar to our gunners by the name of 

 'Black-breast,' arrives on the shores of Long Island in the 

 month of April. It soon passes on to the north, and is said to 

 breed in the Arctic regions. In the month of September it 

 returns, and at that season is quite abundant, though not so 

 plentiful with us as it is on the seacoast of New-.Jersey. It as- 

 sociates in flocks, and frequents the shores, sand bars and muddy 

 flats, feeding on worms and minute shell-fish, which abound in 

 such places. In the month of October it is usually very fat, and 

 is considered excellent eating. In autumn, the plumage is so 

 entirely different from that of spring, that by gunners generally 

 it is considered a distinct species, and is called by them at that 

 season 'Winter Snipe.' It then resembles the autumnal dress 

 of the Curlew Sandpiper, the form and length of their bills being 

 not unlike. By persons not accustomed to comparing birds, 

 the two species might easily be confounded. The neck of the 

 latter is longer and more slender — the head smaller and more 

 rounded — the wings and legs longer — and with its general 

 superiority in size, is sufficient to determine the species. 



" The Red-backed Sandpiper is found during autumn on the 

 sandy and muddy shores along the whole extent of the coast of 

 the United States. It is a restless, active bird, and gleans its 

 food with great nimbleness, and seems to be fond of continually 

 changing its position. Soon after alighting, they collect togeth- 

 er, and make a short excursion over the water, again alighting 

 a short distance from where they had previously taken wing. 

 During their aerial excursions, when whirling about, they crowd' 

 so close together, that niJ^ny are killed at a single shot. On one 

 of these occasions, Mr. Brasher informs me that he killed fifty- 



