27«; 



V E II T E B R A T A 



j..-iin Lira of that nam. — is rlovon inches \ou<^\ l.r-.wn aii.l rod.lish above; beneath white; feeds 

 on w..nns, l.-echos, an<l aquatic insects; migrates northwanl in March an<l April, aiid returns in 

 July and August ; breeds from Virginia to 55° north. It has the same habit as the English Snipe, 

 —which somewhat resembles the practice we have described as belonging to the Night-IIawk— of 

 making wide and lofty sweeps in the air, and thou swiftly d(;sccnding with a wailing, liovering sound, 

 often heard in the irray of the morning and evening, and when the birds are invisible, and there- 

 fore seeming to come from spirits of the sky. It is almost nocturnal in its habits, and conceals 

 itself with alsiduity in the rank grass and herbage of the marshes which it frequents. Like many 

 other birds of this family, it nniy be decoyed, while in flight, by an imitation of its call. Some 

 of them remain among u's until the frost hardens the earth and compels them to depart. Another 

 species, the Marroramphus scolopaceus, is found throughout the temperate parts of North 

 America. Sauixe's Snipe, S. Sahini, is a rare European species, little known. 



TUE CLKLKW SA.NUMrtKS. 



TRIXGIN.E OR SANDPIPERS. 



This family consists of small birds resembling the snipes, but having longer legs. They live in 

 the neighborhood of water, and some of them swim w^ith facility. They are migratory, breeding 

 high in the Xorth, and proceeding usually in flocks to the South in autumn. They run and fly 

 rapidly; feed on worms, insects, and mollusca, which they extract from the soft, oozy soil of 

 marshes. There are many species in Europe and America. 



Genus TRINGA : Trinija. — The Curlew Sandpiper, T. subarquata, is about eight inches 

 long ; chestnut and black above ; breast and belly reddish-chestnut. It breeds in Northern Eu- 

 rope and Asia, as well as in North America ; in winter it is found in Africa, from Barbary to the 

 Cape, and in the United States, along the Atlantic coast to Florida. It is, however, always a rare 

 species. The Gray-Back of the United States, called Knot in England, T. canuta, is ten inches 

 long; variegated above with black and brown, and beneath reddish-chestnut ; abundant in Western 

 Europe and Eastern North America. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper, T. rufescens — Tryngites 

 rj//e'sceHs of Baird — eight inches long; grayish-yellow above; beneath yellowish-red, spotted; 

 found in Europe and North America. The Broad-billed Sandpiper, T.plati/rhi/ncha, six and a 

 half inches long; above varied with black, rufous, and gray; beneath grayish-white, tinged with 

 bu£Bsh-red ; rare, but distributed throughout Europe. The Little Stint, T. minuia, is six 

 inches long ; gray above ; under surface white, with a dusky band across the neck ; found 



