200 



PRiEUOCIAL GRALLATORES — LLM1C0LA\ 



I fii. 



as somewhat similar to those of Micropulama himantopus, and therefore int'erentially 

 dilt'ert'nt from those of M. i/n'sn/a. 



yiv. Uall mentions the J/, svolopacvus as common abont the month of the IMvcr 

 Yukon, where the M. grlseus is si)oken of as Ijeiiii; very rare up that river. At; 

 Nuhito this same form iii mentioned by Jlr. IJannister as being ([uite eomnioii, 

 tliongh not extremely abundant; he found the nest of this .Snipe on the od of tJuue, 

 and on the (ith secured the parent with the eggs. The nest was a simjde hollow 

 in the ground in a grassy hiuiunoek, in the centre of a marshy spot, with scarcely 

 any lining whatever; there was nothing in the shape of a nest substantial enough to 

 bo removed. The eggs were four in nundjer. and Mr. ISannister describes them as of 

 a brownish color, mottled with a still deeper tint. The female when startled from 

 t' " nest shuffled off witli , .i-at rapidity among the grassy hummocks, presenting a 

 ve y difficult mark to hit. Only one parent l)ird was seen. 



Dr. Cooper states that on the extensive level plains south of Los Angeles he found 

 this species quite abundant during the middle of ( >ctober, 18G5. He also observed that 

 bunches of them, inimixed with any other s])i'cies, were sold in the town under tlie 

 name of "Jack Snipe; '' while the species connuonly known by this name, Artutfromos 

 macvlata, has not, to his knowledge, been met with south of San Francis(!0. The 

 present species was found iTe([uenting the brackish lagoons and river-banks exclu- 

 sively, never appearing about the salt-miirshes, which are the favorite places of resort 

 of the more northern and eastern form, the M. ijrlseus. The birds kept in small 

 flocks, and alighted so close together, that several coulil be killed at a single shot. 

 They usually fed in water as deep as their long legs and bill would allow them to 

 wade in, probing the bottom. 



Mr. George X. Lawrence, in his paper first describing this form, read Jan. 7, 184!), 

 mentions that this bird is found abundantly on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico in 

 winter, that its principal migration is up tlu^ Mississip[)i Valley and farther west, 

 but that it is rare on the Atlantic coast. It is given by the same writer (" IJirds of 

 Southern Mexico") as having been taken at San Mateo, Tehuantepec, in August and 

 February. Mr. liawrence, in his Notes on Cuban lUrds (iNIay L'l, 1800) also refers to 

 a specimen sent to him by Dr. Gundlach from C\d)a. lie regards its rarity on our 

 coast, where the gt'iseus is so very common, as furnishing further evidence of its 

 distinctness as a species. It makes its appearance (]uite early in the si)ring, and is 

 found in the New York market in April, fully three weeks before any of the more 

 common varieties are to be seen. And in this connection 1 may state that I have 

 received a fine specinuMi of a female shot on ('ai)e Cod, Mass., as late as November 

 3, or long after all of the other variety had gone. 



Dr. Kennerly, in his Notes on the lUrds observed along the Mexican Boundary, 

 speaks of this species as very rare, and as having been only observed occasionally in 

 the valley of the Conalitos Eiver, and once in the Valley of tlie Veletado. A pair 

 were seen together, and both secured ; but no others were obtained. 



Eggs in the Smithsonian Collection, marked as having been obtxaned by Mr. Ban- 

 nister on the Island of St. Michael's, May 23, 18G6, are larger than any eggs of the 

 griseus we have ever seen, measuring 1.80 inches in length, by l.lo inches in breadth. 

 They have a ground of a well-pronounced rufous di'ab, blotched with much darker 

 markings of a deep shade of sepia brown. 



