CLASS II. AYES: ORDER 7. GRALLATORES. 



275 



THE DOUBLE, OR SOLITARY SNIPE. 



and black ; beneath recicush chestnut barred with black. They move northward in April, and 

 breed in the northern regions of this continent, amid the reedy and marshy borders of the great 

 Jakes, feeding on leeches, worms, insects, and small mollusca, which they extract from the mud 

 with their long, dextrous bills. They move southward in July and August, now gathering along 

 the sea-shore, and appearing in large flocks, performing their aerial evolutions over the marshes, 

 sometimes uttering a short, rapid note, and sometimes a loud, querulous whistle. At this period 



GRAY SNIPE. 



large numbers of them are killed in the Middle States, their flesh, like that of the other snipes, 

 being of exquisite flavor. This species, which is known in some parts by the name of Dowitchee, 

 Quail Snipe, and Brown Snipe, is distributed over the temperate parts of North America, and a 

 few specimens are seen in Europe from Sweden to Great Britain. 



The Common American Snipe — S. Wilsoni of De Kay, S. gallinarjo of Temminck, often 

 called Wilson's Snij)e, and also English Snipe, from the fact that it closely resembles the Euro- 



