308 



Range in Great Britain. Some sixteen occurrences of this 

 species have been recorded, and others, less genuine, have 

 been noted. It is evident that stray individuals visit us occa- 

 sionally in the autumn, and naturally most of them have been 

 captured on our western coasts, though examples have been 

 obtained in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Middlesex. In 1889 

 Mr. Howard Saunders knew of no specimens from Ire- 

 land, but the occurrence of the species in that country 

 was recorded in 1894 by Mr. Barrett-Hamilton, two examples 

 having been procured in Queen's co. and Tipperary respec- 

 tively in November, 1893. The latter were supposed to 

 belong to the western race, M. scolopaceus. I may remark 

 that I have been unable to recognise the distinctions between 

 M. griseus and M. scolopaceus, for it seems to me that long- 

 billed and short-billed examples of the Red-breasted Snipe- 

 Tattler occur, just as they do with the Dunlins and other 

 waders, and that specific differences founded on these charac- 

 ters cannot be defined. 



Range outside the British Islands. The present species inhabits 

 Arctic America, and breeds there, both long and short-billed 

 forms being found in the north, and occurring together in their 

 winter-homes in Texas and elsewhere in Central and South 

 America. 



Habits. Mr. Elliot describes this species as a tame and 

 unsuspicious bird, and one which is easily allured to its fate 

 by means of decoy birds and an imitation of its note. Mr. E. 

 W. Nelson writes : " They are very demonstrative birds in 

 their love-making, and in the last of May and first of June 

 their loud cries are heard everywhere about their haunts, 

 especially in morning and evening. T\vo or three males start 

 in pursuit of a female, and away they go twisting and turning, 

 here and there, over marsh and stream, with marvellous swift- 

 ness and dexterity. At short intervals a male checks his flight 

 for a moment to utter a strident /&/ u weet ; wee-too, wee-too ; 

 then on he goes full tilt again. After they have mated, or 

 when . a solitary male pays his devotions, they rise fifteen or 

 twenty yards from the ground, where, hovering upon quivering 

 wings, the bird pours forth a lisping but energetic and fre- 

 quently musical song, which can be very imperfectly expressed 

 by the syllables peet-peet ; pee-1er-wee-too ; ivee-too ; pee-ter-w'ec- 



