THE SNIPE. 165 



known, as I have stated, by the general title of Bay 

 Snipe, there is but one Snipe proper, and that is one of 

 the most mimerous, and perhaps the most excellent of 

 the tribes. 



The Red-breasted Snipe, Scolopax Noveboracensis 

 the "Dowitcher," the "Quail Snipe," the "Brown 

 Back." 



A brace of these excellent and beautiful birds are 

 depicted as thrown carelessly on the ground, under the 

 neck of the Ring-tailed Marlin in the preceding sketch. 



This bird has the bill of the true snipe, Scolopax Ame- 

 ricanus, excepting only that the knob at the tip of the 

 upper mandible of the bill is less distinctly marked. The 

 spring plumage of this bird, in which it is depicted 

 above, is on the upper parts brownish-black, variegated 

 with clove-brown, and light reddish-brown, the .second- 

 aries and wing-coverts tipped and edged with white. 

 Lower parts bright orange colored ferruginous, spotted 

 with dusky, arrow-headed spots. The abdomen paler. 

 The tail-feathers and upper-tail coverts alternately bar- 

 red with black and white ; the legs and feet dull yellow- 

 ish green. 



" At the close of April," says Mr. Giraud, " the Red- 

 breasted Snipe arrive on the coasts of Long Island. In- 

 .Tited by a bountiful supply of food, at the reflux of the 

 tide, it resorts to the mud-flats and shoals to partake of 

 the rich supply of shell-fish and insects which nature in 

 her plenitude has provided for it. As the tide advances, 



