THE GRAY-BACK. 441 



DESCRIPTION. 



Large; bill straight, rather longer than the head, compressed, slightly enlarged 

 at the tip; upper mandible with the nasal groove extending to near the tip; legs 

 moderate; tibia with its lower third part naked; neck moderate; wing long; tail 

 short; toes free at base, flattened beneath, widely margined ; hind toe slender, small; 

 entire upper parts light-gray, with lanceolate, linear, and irregular spots of black, 

 and others of pale-reddish ; rump and upper tail coverts white, with transverse nar- 

 row bands and crescent-shaped spots of black; under parts light brownish-red, 

 paler in the middle of the abdomen ; under tail coverts, tibial feathers, flanks, axil- 

 lary feathers, and under wing coverts white, generally with spots and transverse 

 bars of brownish-black; quills brownish-black, with their shafts white; tail light 

 brownish-cinereous (without spots or bars); all the feathers edged with white, and 

 frequently with a second sub-edging of dark-brown; bill brownish-black; legs 

 greenish-black. 



Young and Winter Plumage. Upper parts brownish-ashy, darker on the back, 

 every feather having a sub-terminal edging of brownish-black, and tipped with dull 

 ashy-white; rump white, with crescents of black; under parts dull ashy-white, 

 nearly pure on the abdomen, but with numerous longitudinal lines, and small spots 

 of dark-brown on the breast and neck; sides with crescent-shaped and irregular 

 spots of brownish-black ; an obscure line of dull-white over and behind the eve. 



Total length (from tip of bill to end of tail), about ten inches; wing, six and a 

 half; tail, two and a half; bill from gape, one and a half; tarsus, one and a quarter 

 inches. Female larger? 



This is the largest of the Sandpipers of the United States, and appears to be 

 restricted to the shores of the Atlantic in this division of the continent of America. 

 We have never seen it from the Pacific Coast. 



In the United States, this bird is known as the Red-breasted Snipe, or sometimes 

 as the Gray-backed Snipe, though we have never heard the name "Knot" applied 

 to it, which appears to be a common appellation of the same species in Europe, and 

 is given by American authors. This is one of the few species of birds which appears 

 to be absolutely identical with a species of Europe, and is of very extensive diffu- 

 sion over the world, especially in the season of southern migration. 



The bird has received a variety of names, of which the very first appears to be 

 that adopted at the head of this article. 



This species appears in New England only in the migra- 

 tions in spring and autumn. It is only seen on the shore, 

 and with us only in small flocks of eight or ten. I have 

 had no opportunities of observing its habits, and will give 

 the description by Wilson : 



" In activity it is superior to the preceding, and traces the flow- 

 ing and recession of the waves along the sandy beach with great 

 nimbleness, wading and searching among the loosened particles for 

 its favorite food, which is a small, thin, oval, bivalve shell-fish, of a 

 white or pearl color, and not larger than the seed of an apple. 



