KED-BKKASTED SNIPE. 377 



COI.OK. Ai/u/t in .1/iriny. Above, wry dark-brown, brooming ashy on secondaries nml upper wing cove.rts which ore 

 edged and banded With white, with all tlie fetit he; s. excepting primaries, edged ami banded willi che-tnut-red. Kiimp, 

 Upper tail OOTOhl, and [ail. white, banded with dark-brown. Shaft of outer primary, whitu. Sides of htiid and under purls, 

 chestnut-red, with line IVcnp. hill to eye. spots, or short bars, on sides of neck, breast, sides, Hanks, and under t:iil -o\er|s, 

 dark-brown. L'i:dcr winir reverts and axillaries, wliite, handed with dark-brown. 



Adult in trintir. Ashy uliove with the feathers darker ucntrally, and white beneath, streaked on tlie tliront, breast, 

 sides, and dunks with ashy. 



Youny. Quite similar to the winter adult, but darker above and more ashy below. Bill and iris, brown, and feet, 

 greenish, in all 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Quite variable in plumage, the above given stages representing the extremes, with all gradations of color between. 

 In sprin;; the l)dy leathers only are moulted and occasionally individuals, in moulting, will not assume the red dress hut 

 will retain the gray throughout the summer. These may be young but it is not a constant pliiiiuige with birds of that ago 

 as they are usually red but paler than the adult. Viewed in the light of my past experience with these birds, which has 

 been somewhat extended*M 1 have handled hundreds of Red-breasted Snipe from the Atlantic Const ml have seen many 

 skins from the West, 1 cannot agree with some of our distinguished ornithologists in aecording specific or even varietal 

 rank t i long-l>eukc.d individual- 1 , for I have frequently seen all gradations between the two extremes known as scolopacevs 

 ami i/rix'-us, both in size and color. It is quite true, that on the northern coast specimens having the extremely length- 

 ened bill arc comparatively rare, but in Florida there is as great a proportion of them as among any other waders subject 

 to a like variation. Readily known by tho long bill, white tail and shaft to outer quill, and other colors as described. Dis- 

 tributed, in summer, throughout Arctic America; wintering from the Carolina-*, southward. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 11 -50; stretch, 18-75; wing, 6'30; tail, 2'37; 

 bill, 2 (>-; tarsus, P56. Longest specimen, 12-50; greatest extent of wing, 20-00; longest wing, 7'10; tail, 2 GO; bill, 3 00; 

 tarsus, 1 77. Shortest specimen, 10-50; smallest extent of wing, 17'50; .shortest wing, 5'50; tail, 2' 13; bill, 224; tarsus, 

 1-35. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



fyyt, placed on the ground in a slight depression of the soil, on n 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'lOx 1'55 to 1-15x1-75. 



HABITS. 



The Red-breasted Snipe make their appearance in Massachusetts in autumn, from tlie 

 middle of August to the middle of September, varying as to the exact date, with different 

 years. In habit, they sometimes resemble Wilson's Snipe, for they will occasionally lie, 

 quietly hidden, in the grass of the marshes until the sportsman approaches quite near, when 

 they will suddenly rise with a loud, clear whistle and fly rapidly away. At other times, 

 however, their habits approximate more nearly to those of the majority of shore birds, for 

 they may be seen feeding on the borders of pools, running nimbly about, and picking up 

 aquatic insects, small mollusks, etc. In the North, they are most emphatically a bird of 

 the marshes, but in the South, I found them on the beaches in company with other wading 

 birds. 



Red-breasted Snipe are very abundant in the latter named section, being common from 

 the Carolinas to Key West, but I found them rather more numerous on the sandy borders 

 of Salt Lake in Ihe interior of Florida, than elsewhere at this season, but in spring, they 

 congregated in Hocks of thousands on Indian River. This was early in May and the birds 

 wen- passing from the gray winter dress to the brighter spring plumage, and then as soon as 

 their leathers wen- grown, which was accomplished in a very short time, they departed 

 for the North. These Snipe arrive in Massachusetts in spring, early in June, remain but 

 a day or two, then make their way to their northern breeding grounds. 



ts 



