SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 243 



With the Plovers they constitute the great group known as Shore 

 Birds or Bay Birds, and with few exceptions they are rarely found far 

 from the vicinity of water. Generally speaking, they are more abundant 

 on the coast than in the interior, but many species are quite as 

 numerous inland as they are near the sea. As a rule, they migrate and 

 pass the winter in flocks, but they are not gregarious during the nesting 

 season. 



Their long bills serve the purpose of both probes and forceps. Most 

 of the species probe the soft mud for food, while some are known to 

 have the power of moving the upper mandible independently of the 

 lower one, curving it at the tip as one would a finger. 



Snipes are not supposed to be song birds, but during the breeding 

 season many species are highly and peculiarly musical, and at other 

 times of the year they utter characteristic whistles, to an imitation 

 of which the birds are quick to respond. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES 



I. Bill 2*00 or over. 



A. Axillars* barred with black. 

 a. Bill curved downward. 



a 1 . Bill over 3'00, under 4*50 265. HUDSONIAN CURLEW. 



a 2 . Bill under 3 '00 266. ESKIMO CURLEW. 



a 3 . Bill over 4'50 264. LONG-BILLED CURLEW. 



6. Bill straight or curved slightly upward. 



6 1 . Tail-feathers with numerous black bars. 



6 2 . Wing over 7'00, primaries black or fuscous. 



254. GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. 



6 3 . Wing over 7'00, inner web of primaries buff or rufous. 



249. MARBLED GODWIT. 

 b 4 . Wing under 7'00, bill widened and pitted at the tip. 



231. DOWITCHER. 232. LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. 

 c 1 . Tail black with a broad rufous tip or marked with rufous. 

 c 2 . Outer web of primaries with rufous bars. 



227. EUROPEAN WOODCOCK. 

 c 3 . Primaries not barred 230. WILSON'S SNIPE. 



B. Axillars not barred. 



a. Axillars rufous or ochraceous-buff. 



a 1 . Bill over 5'00, much curved downward. 



264. LONG-BILLED CURLEW. 

 a 2 . Bill nearly straight, between 3*50 and 5'00. 



249. MARBLED GODWIT. 



a 3 . Bill straight, under 3*50 .... 228. AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 

 6. Axillars black. 



ft 1 . Underparts chestnut-rufous, barred with black. 



251. HUDSONIAN GODWIT. 



6 2 . Underparts white, with or without blackish bars. 



258. WILLET. 258a. WESTERN WILLET. 

 II. Bill under 2'00. 



1. Tail with cross-bars. 

 A. Wing over 5'75. 



a. Outer tail-feathers white, more or less barred; outer primary with- 

 out bars . 255. YELLOW-LEGS. 



6. Outer primary with numerous black bars. 261. UPLAND PLOVER. 



*See Fig. 82. 

 18 



