376 RED-BREASTED SNIPE. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, lO'OO; stretch, 16 75; wing, 5'75; tail, 2 25; 

 bill, 2-55; tarsus, 1-32. Longest specimen, 11'75; greatest extent of wing, 17'25; longest wing, 6'50; tail, 2 50; bill, sJ'75; 

 tarsus, 1-50. Shortest specimen, 10-25; smallest extent of wing, 1625; shortest wing, 5'00; tail, 2 00; bill, 2'40; tarsus, 

 1-15. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Eggs, placed on the ground in a slight depression of the soil, on a little grass, etc. They are from two to four in num- 

 ber, pyriform in shape, varying from pale greenish-brown to yellowish-ash in color, spotted and blotched irregularly, and 

 usually faintly, with light reddish-brown and umber Dimensions from 1'05 x 1-50 to 1' 10 x 1 60. 



HABITS. 



There are few sportsmen, worthy of the name, who do not know the scape of Wilson's 

 Snipe as they rise from the wet meadows and pursue their rapid zigzag flight. When 

 started from a spot in which they have been feeding, in spring, Snipe are quite apt to fly a 

 short distance, then settle down again, but in autumn, they appear more restless and will 

 often circle around, high in air, calling continually until joined by several others, when all 

 will depart for some distant feeding ground. I found these Snipe very common along the 

 borders of rivers and creeks in the Carolinas but I never met with them so abundantly as on 

 the marshes of Indian River in Florida. Here they perfectly swarm, two or three rising 

 at every step of the sportsman, and after flying a short distance, will tamely settle down 

 again. From this point southward, they are common and I even met with them on the 

 borders of the fresh water ponds at Key West. Snipe migrate late in September as a rule, 

 lingering for a time in New England and the Middle States, but by the first of November, 

 the greater portion have departed, yet I have frequently shot them when the ground wa& 

 completely frozen, as they rose from the side of some open spring. 



On the Magdalen Islands, are certain swampy tracts of country, filled to a great depth 

 with a black, muddy ooze and water which is of an icy coldness. The top of this morass 

 is in many places covered with grass, weeds, and often bushes, but which never becomes 

 firm enough to bear the weight of man. The light-footed Snipe, however, run over it with 

 ease and it is here that they build their nests and raise their young in perfect safety. Al- 

 most any time during the day in summer, the males may be heard uttering a peculiar win- 

 nowing sound, while they circle about, high in air, darting suddenly to one side every tima 

 they give these notes. Wilson's Snipe also deposit their eggs in similar bogs in Northern 

 Maine. 



GENUS III. MACRORHAMPHUS. THE MARSH SNIPES. 



GEN. CH. Bill, more than twice as long as head which is small. Marginal indentations, four; outer deeper than inne> 

 Corai'oids, equal in length to height of keel. 



Stomach , flat in form , quite muscular and lined with a finely rugose membrane. Prorentriculus , smal 1 . Coeca, quitt 

 long. Sterno-trachealis, thin and there is a weak bronchialis, but no other laryngeal muscles. Tyinpaniform membrane 

 present. Sexes, similar. There is but one species within oar limits. 



MACRORHAMPHUS GRISETJS. 



Red-breasted Snipe. 



Macrorhamphus yriseus LEACH, Cat. Brit. Mug.; 1816, 31. 

 DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn, Form, rather slender. Size, medium. Tongue, very long, thick, fleshy, rounded at base, grooved through 

 out its entire length, becoming thinner at tip and gradually pointed. 



