SANIU'II'KKS. |"|V. 155 



succession of hoarse, rasping eaipta which hare a peculiarly start- 

 ling effect on incx|ericnccd nerves. 



In tho springtime and occasionally in autumn also Wilson'* 



Siii|H- mounts t- it considerable height above his favorite meudows and 



darts downward with great velocity. milking at each descent a low jet 



tremulous sound which suggests the winnowing of a domes- 



tu- I'ige.n's wings, or, if heard lit it distance. the bleating of a goat, and 



which is thought to U- produced by tin- rushing of the air through th.- 



..f ih- Snipe. This |icrformanc(> may be sometimes witno-ed in 



broad daylight when the weather is .stormy, but ordinarily it i- re- 



served for the morning and evening twilight and for moonlight nights, 



when it is often kept up for hours in siiccr^-inn. 



Besides this - drumming" or " bleating," as it is called, the Snipe, 

 while muting, sometimes makes another peculiar sound, a kvk-kuk- 

 kuk-kuk-kni>. evidently vocal and occasionally ac<-ompnnring a slow, 

 labored, and perfectly direct flight, at the end of which tho bird alights 

 on a tree or fence post for a few moments. WIU.IAM HKKWSTEB. 



The Ki -RIII-EAX SXII-K u'.'J'. (fnlfintit/0 yallinmjin inhaliit.s the northern 

 parti* ut'tln- >!'! Wurlil. i.- ( treiHieiit oeeurreiiee in (iri'i-iilun.l.aii.l tu-eidcntal 

 in the Bermuda*. 



231. Macrorhamphus grlseua ''/('/.) I>..\MI< HH:. . Si-t- Fip. 

 8fi,O,20. . ' .(/. in "it mint r. I l'lT part.*, tertiuK uinl win^'-eovertr. l'la--k.the 

 feutlu-ra edged or barrtKl with oehraeumi.* Uitl' <>r riit'oiis; ruiiip, UJ>|H.T tail- 

 coverbs and tail barred with black and more or le.v iM-liraeeou. lunT; prima- 

 ri ftuf<>us; uinler i>art lull, pale rul'mis, wliitUli on tin- belly, m<>rc or lem 

 spotted unl harreil with lilm'k. .!</. in irint<r. r)i|-r parts brownish gray; 

 rump ami tail barntl with black and white: throat and breast washed with 

 ashy. U lly white, sides and umler tail -eo verts barn-il with blaek. ///(. I'pper 

 partM black, the leathers e.lirt-d with rufous; rump and tail barred with blaek 

 nnd white, and .-onictimcs waslied with rut'nijs; seentidaries widely edifiHl with 

 white; under parts mop' or less washed with ix'hriieeoiis-hurl and olwcurcly 

 potted with blaoki.-h. I... l'-.v>; \V.. :,::,; Tar., 1 



Jtfin l>arn><l tail ami tail coverts, with the peculiar flattened, 



pitted tip of the bill, are characteristic of this and the in-\t -|..-cifs. 



Ra*g. Eosteni North America, breeding within the An-tic Circle, and 

 wintering' fn>m Klri'la t> Smith Aim-ricn. 



\Va!hiiitfton, eanual, one s|>cciincn, Sept. I...IIL' Island, common T. V.. 

 May; July to Sept. 1.*.. 



. tour, licht huffy ..live, distinctly spotted and |H-ckled, enpecially 

 about tlic larger end. witli di'ep brown. 1'..". 11.". Ki-L- 



The Oowitchcrs arc among our lH->t-kimwn Bay Hirds. Tliry 

 migrate in coinpat-t f|o<-ks which are i-a-dy attracted to decoys by an 

 imitation c.f their call. Mud-flats and lmt> ex|x>sed by the fallinc tide 

 arc their chosen fevding grounds. On thelJulf coast of Florida I have 



