SrOLOPAriD.'E — THE SNIPE FAlflLY — TOTANFS. 



277 



In Bonaudii, according to .Mii jor Woddcilmrn, it arrives regularly about the Ist of 

 August in each year, being une ui tlie earliest visitors from the north, and there 

 iciuains until the end of Se|(tenil)er, On the l.'ith of thily. 1847, one of this species 

 was caught, in an exhausted state, on the north shore of one of the islands, during a 

 gale from the northwest. On the L'fSth of July, IS-JS, a large flock was seen, and 

 ii week later the birds had beeoiue very nunu-rous. 



It is more or less abundant (hiring the winter from South Carolina to ^fexico. ^Ir. 

 iMesscr met with it near ^Matamoras, liut it was not eoninu)n. in tlie spring of ISdl, 

 at San Antonio, he noti(.'ed it n'uch oi'temu' than he did at Matanioras, and in 

 April and early in ISfay shot seveial. He also saw this l)inl on (Jalveaton Island 

 (■ally in dune. 



In the oi)inion of Audubon the Yellow.shank is nuu-h more abundant in the inte- 

 rior than along the coast. In the early autumn, when the sandbars of the Ohio arc 

 luicovered, it may be seen upon them in small fl(jcks. em|iloyed in searching for food, 

 wading in the water up to the feathered part of their legs. In the Carolinas they 

 resort to the riceticlds, and in Florida to the wet savannahs. He met with a few on 

 tlie coast of Labrador, but did not find their nests, lie was informed by Thomas 

 .MacCullock that it breeds in considerable mindiers about I'ictou; but when in that 

 ])lace, in 1850, I could ol)tain no corroboration of this statement. Mr. ^lacCuUock 

 dcscril)ed the nest as jjlaced among the grass on the edges of streams and jjonds of 

 tlic interior. 



Although this bird has been but once reported on the Southern I'acific shore, yet 

 Mr. Dall states that it was obtained both at Sitka and at Kadiak by ^Ir. Hischoff. It 

 was not rare at Fort Vukon, where it was found breeding liy Lockhart. It was also 

 seen in small nund);'rs at Xulato and near the mouth of tiu' Yukon. Mv. Keunicott, 

 who found it breeding near Fort Uesolution, states that it arrives there in the spring 

 among the first birds. He describes its nest as of th(> simj)lest kind, it being merely 

 a dcin-ession without any lining, at the foot of a small bush, in ratlier open ground, a 

 rod from the edge of a marsh. Another nest was in an open jdace among s])arse, low 

 hushes — a simple depressicm, but lined with a few leaves and small sticks. Mr. 

 -MacFarlane found the nests of this species, lined with decayed leaves, on the Tiower 

 Anderson Kiver; and in some instances they were near the edge of a small lake. 

 ( tthers were taken at Fort Anderson, some as early as June 2. The nests were all 

 mere deju'cssions, with a very scanty lining. The usual luuuber of the eggs was four. 

 In several instances the male bird was seen to jierch on trees near the nest, in the 

 manner of the Oommon Snipe. Some were already hatched by the 19th of June. 

 W'lien the pair had young, they were very noisy, going constantly before the intruder 

 from tree to tree for several hundred yards beyond their nest. The yt)ung, even 

 Avhen just hatched, run aiul hide in the short grass, so as to nuike it difficult to find 

 them, the parents, in the meanwhile, flying and screaming in the air above. 



The eggs of this species obtained by Mr. MacFarlane exhibit some variations in 

 the shading of the ground and in tlu'ir markings. Mo. 113!>7, Nat. Mus., average in 

 measurement 1.08 inches in length and 1.12 in breadth. Their ground-color is a 

 light drab, verging in some into a darker hue, marked with separate rounded blotches 

 of bistre, of a light tint, and washed in a few instances with the ground-color, giving 

 the effect of a light ashy slate. No. 11388, S. I., the ground-color a dull, deep rufous 

 drab ; the spots more numerous and confluent, giving to the eggs a very different 

 effect from that usually presented. 





