246 SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 



barred with black; outer tail-feathers barred with black and white, inner 

 ones black, barred with rufous at their ends and tipped with whitish. L., 

 11-25; W., 5-00; Tar., 1'20; B., 2'50. 



Range. N. A. and n. S. A. Breeds from nw. Alaska, n. Mackenzie, 

 cen. Keewatin, and n. Ungava s. to n. Calif., s. Colo., n. Iowa, n. liis., Pa., 

 and n. N. J. ; winters from n. Calif., N. Mex., Ark., and N. C., through Cen. 

 Am. and West Indies to Colombia and s. Brazil; remains in winter casually 

 and locally n. to Wash., Mont., Nebr., Ills., and N. S.; accidental in Hawaii, 

 Bermuda, and Great Britain. 



Washington, common T. V., Mch. 9-May 11; Aug. 30-Nov. 18, occasional 

 in winter. Long Island, common T. V., Mch. and Apl. ; Aug.-Oct., a few 

 winter. Ossining, tolerably common T. V., Mch. 20-May 6; Oct. 6-Nov. 

 20. Cambridge, common T. V., Apl. 6-May 6; Sept. 12-Nov. 15. N. Ohio, 

 common T. V., Mch. 19-May 15; Sept. 15-Oct. 30. Glen Ellyn, common 

 T. V., Mch. 26-May 11; Sept. 1-Nov. 4. SE. Minn., common S. R., Mch. 

 11-Oct. 31., A. V. in winter. 



Nest, of grasses, on the ground in marshy places. Eggs, 3-4, olive, clay- 

 color, or brownish ashy, heavily marked with chocolate, principally at the 

 larger end, 1'60 x 1*17. Date, Lake Co., Ills., Apl. 24; se. Minn., May 10. 



Wilson's Snipe frequents fresh-water meadows and swamps, and 

 in spring is often found in low-lying swales in meadows or mowing 

 fields, but, excepting in very dry seasons, it seldom alights on salt 

 marshes. At times, especially in winter or early spring, when the 

 meadows are covered with snow or ice, it resorts to springy runs wooded 

 with alders, birches, and maples, but as a rule it prefers open places. 

 Two things are essential to its requirements ground so thoroughly 

 water-soaked as to afford slight resistance to its long and highly sen- 

 sitive bill when probing, and such concealment as tussocks, hillocks, 

 or long grass afford, for, unlike the Sandpipers, the Snipe rarely ven- 

 tures out on bare mud flats, save under cover of darkness. Although 

 less strictly nocturnal than the Woodcock, it feeds and migrates chiefly 

 by night or in 'thick' weather. Its migratory movements are noto- 

 riously erratic, and meadows which one day are alive with birds may be 

 quite deserted the next, or the reverse. 



Dear to our sportsmen is Wilson's Snipe, partly because of the 

 excellence of its flesh, but chiefly from the fact that it furnishes a mark 

 which taxes their skill to the utmost, and which no mere novice need 

 hope to hit, unless by accident; for the bird's flight is swift and tortu- 

 ous, and it springs from the grass as if thrown by a catapult, uttering 

 \ succession of hoarse, rasping scaipes which have a peculiarly start- 

 ing effect on inexperienced nerves. 



In the springtime and occasionally in autumn also Wilson's 

 ^nipe mounts to a considerable height above his favorite meadows and 

 darts downward with great velocity, making at each descent a low, yet 

 penetrating, tremulous sound which suggests the winnowing of a domes- 

 tic Pigeon's wings, or, if heard at a distance, the bleating of a goat, and 

 which is thought to be produced by the rushing of the air through the 

 wings of this Snipe. The performance may be sometimes witnessed in 

 broad daylight when the weather is stormy, but ordinarily it is reserved 

 for the morning and evening twilight and for moonlight nights, 

 when it is often kept up for hours in succession. 



