BAY SNIPE. 33 



blackish brown ; tail olive-brown, faintly barred with dusky, 

 and tipped with white ; upper parts brown, barred with dusky ; 

 inner primaries tipped with white ; secondaries more broadly 

 tipped with the same ; a band of white behind the eye — a 

 white ring round the eye ; outer toes connected by a mem- 

 brane as far as the first joint. Length eight inches, wing three 

 and seven-eighths. Young without the spots on the lower parts. 

 ' This small and well-marked species is the first of this family 

 that visits us in the spring. It appears on Long Island about 

 the middle of April, and resides with us permanently until late 

 in autumn, continuing its sojourn aftermost of the other species 

 of Tringa have departed for their winter quarters. 



" It is distributed throughout the United States, and occurs at 

 Labrador, where, according to Mr. Audubon, as with us, it 

 breeds, as well as along the coast of the Middle and Eastern 

 States and the interior. It is a very common species, and from 

 its habit of constantly raising and lowering its tail, it is familiar 

 to persons residing in the country by the cognomen of ' Teet- 

 er,' or * Tiltup.' 



" They do not associate in large flocks, and like the former, 

 are rather solitary. They inhabit the moist gi'ounds in the vi- 

 cinity of streams and ponds, and often resort to the ploughed 

 fields to glean up the worms that lie exposed in the furrows. 

 Early in the month of May, it commences preparing its nest, 

 and retires to a neighboring field for that purpose. The tene- 

 ment — which is formed of dry grass and straw — is placed on 

 the ground in a cluster of weeds or briars ; sometimes it is 

 found in the most exposed part of the pasture ground, only 

 partially hidden by the stinted vegetation by which it is sur- 

 rounded. It is also found along the banks of small streams, and 

 on the margins of ponds. The eggs, four in number, are of a 

 pale yellowish cast, irregularly spotted with blackish-brown. 

 The young, soon after being hatched, runs among the grass, 

 uttering a low, feeble, whispering note, which soon increases in 

 cadence, so as to be undistinguishable from the full and clear 

 voice of its parents — and at that early period it is seen giving 

 3 



