SCOLOPACID.E — THE SNIPE FAMILY - GALLINAGO, 



189 



white, and barred with black throughout their length. Bill brown (gieenis<h gray in lil'ej, paler at 

 base ami darker toward the entl ; logs dark brown (liglit greenish gray in life). 



Total length, about U).')0 to 11.50 inches ; e.\tent, Ki.uO to 17..")() ; wing, 5.00 to 5.60; tail, 

 •2.-2'> ; bill, 2.50 to 2.(j(» ; tarsus, 1.25. 



In a very large series of siieciniens from all jiarts of the continent north of Panama, no varia- 

 tions are noticeable other than what ajqiear of a jiurely individual character, and these are seldom 

 very pronounced. 



Hiirdly second cvcii to the famed Woodcock u.s a ganie-bivil, the eonnuou Ameri- 

 can Snipe has u nuicli more extended range than that species. It is fomul from 

 the Atlantic to the l'a<'itic, in the winter extending its migrations to Jfexico and 

 Central and Northern Soutii America, and in the summer breeding as far north as 

 Whale Cove, on Hudson's I>ay, on the east, and Sitka, Kadiak. Fort Yukon, and 

 Fort Anderson on the north and west. It l)reeds from latitude 42^ northward; 

 and a few are occasionally known to nest south of that line, and even in Maryland. 



Major Wedderburn states that this bird is more or less common in Bermuda 

 during the autumnal migration, coming in ()etober, and a few remaining until the 

 month of January. In October, ISl'J, an immensi' number ai)peared, and remained 

 a few days. Some are killed from year to j'car in the nu)nl«hs of JIar(di, April, and 

 -May, in their vernal migrations. Mr. Ilurdis states that it was occasionally met 

 with as early as the 13th of Sei>tenibcr. Mr. Leyland fouiul it conmuui in winter 

 near Omoa. Mr. G. (J. Taylor observed it near Comayagua. and has no doubt that it 

 is very common there in the rainy season ; and Mr. Salvin nu't with it in Guate- 

 mala. Professor Xewton mentions its occurrence in St. Croix in the fall, but not 

 in numbers. It is included by Leotaud among the connnon birds of the Island of 

 Trinidad, where by nuiny it is regarded as a resident sjiecies. The last-named author 

 speaks of it as having the .sanu' apiK'arance, the sanus cry, and the sanu- habits as the 

 common Snipe of Euroju". Its flesh is deservedly lndd in high esteem. It prefers 

 low, moist, and partially inundated meadows, where it is ipiite comnum. Ilearne, 

 in his '•.Journey to the Xorthcrn Ocean" (p. 4U5), nu'ntions this Sni])e as visiting 

 Hudson's r>ay in considerable nuudjers, but as only very rarely seen north of "Whale 

 Cove. Bischotf obtained specimens at Sitka and Kadiak, and Ball found it rare on 

 the Yukon. 



Mr. Kennicott saw it breeding at Fort Yukon, May L'O. He noticed the male on 

 two occasions perched on the top of a snuill S])riu^o near its nest, and when startled 

 it Hew to other trees, instead of alighting on the ground. It uttered at slight inter- 

 vals a series of notes a little in the style of the small Virginia Kail, but on a higher 

 key, like l;tik-h-ak-kiik, and not so rapidly as the Kail. The nest was on a snuill, nearly 

 naked tussock, surrounded, by water, on the edge of a narrow marsh, in the woods, 

 thickly intersjjersed with largt' willows. Gn the land, Avithin a few yards of the 

 nest, was a large thick growth of sjjruce. The nest was a simple depression, rather 

 deeper than that of Totunus Jlaciprs, lined with a little dry grass, and containing 

 three eggs ; a fourth was taken from the ovaries of the female. 



Captain Bendire mentions the Sni]te as present and breeding in Southeastern 

 < )rcgon, but as not being common there. He met with one on the loth of February, 

 and also noticed a pair in June, 187(>, which were undoubtedly nesting in the marsh 

 from which he started them. Mr. Aiken speaks of it as common in Colorado during 

 the migrations, a few remaining during the winter. In Xortheastern Illinois, near 

 Lake Michigan, jNIr. Xclson found it a not very rare summer resident, arriving about 

 the 1st of April, nearly all having passed on by the 1st of May. He has found 

 several pairs evidently breeding in the marshes near Waukegan. 



