SNIPES, SANDPIPEKS, ETC. 



155 





a succession of hoarse, rasping scaipes wliich have a peculiarly start- 

 ling effect on inexperienced nerves. 



In the springtime — and occasionally in autumn also — Wilson's 

 Snipe mounts to a considerable height above his favorite nieadows and 

 darts downward with great velocity, making at each descent a low yet 

 penetrating, tremulous sound which suggests the winnowing of a domes- 

 tic Pigeon's wings, or, if heard at a distance, the bleating of a goat, and 

 which is thought to be produced by the rushing of the air through the 

 wings of the Snipe. This performance nuiy be sometimes witnessed in 

 broad daylight when the weather is stormy, but ordinarily it is re- 

 served for the morning and evening twilight and for moonlight nights, 

 when it is often kept up for hours in succession. 



Besides this "drumming" or "bleating," as it is called, the Snipe, 

 while mating, sometimes makes another [teculiar sound, a kuk-kuk- 

 kiik-kuk-kiip, evidently vocal and occasionally accompanying a slow, 

 labored, and perfectly direct flight, at the end of which the bird alights 

 on a tree or fence post for a few moments. — William Hkkwster. 



Tlie EiKDi'KAX Snii'k (JJIK (iuUiiKnio t/it/h'txn/in iiilialiits tlie nortliern 

 parts of till- * H(l World, is <<t' trciiutut oei'urrfnoe in Circenliiiul, ami ncfiilentul 

 in tlic Ik-niiiuluH. 



231* Ma^crorhajaphnBgriBeuB (Omt'l.). I)owit< hkk. (SccFif;s. 

 25, o, '2(3, c.) All. ill Kinniiitr. — Ijnit^r parts, tertiuls, iiml wing-eoviTts black, the 

 feathers edired or harri'il with oolinicioih-iiiitr or rufous; rump, ujiper tail- 

 coverts, and tail harnd with t>l«ek and more or less oehraeious-liutl"; j)rima- 

 ries fuscous; under parts dull, jialt- rufous, wliitisli on the lielly, more or lew* 

 spotted and barred witli black. Ail. in irintir. rppcr parts brownish u'ray ; 

 rump and tail barred with bUifk ami white; throat ami l)rtasl waslu'd with 

 ashy, billy whiti'. sitlcs and under tail-i'overts liai'ri'd with black, /m. - Ijipcr 

 ])arts black, the featlu-rs edircd with rufous; rump and tail barrcil with black 

 and white, atiil sometimes waslu'd with rufous; secondaries widely edtred with 

 white; under parts more or less washed with ochraceous-buH ami oi)scurely 

 Bpotted with blackish. L., lO.W; W., TvT.'i: Tur., VW; H., 2-05-'.i-r)0. 



Uetnarh. — The barred tail and tail -coverts, with tlie peculiar flattened, 

 pitted tip of the bill, are eliaracteristic of this and the next species. 

 , /I'rtw^i". -Eastern North America, breeding within the Arctic Circle, and 

 winterinjr from Florida to South America. 



Washiiiu'ton, casual, one specimen, Sept. Long Ibland, common T. V., 

 May; July Xei Sept. 15. 



h'tjiix, four, liirht bulfy olive, distinctly spotted and speckled, especially 

 about the larjjer end, with deep brown. l-il5 y li.'5 i Ilidf/w. ). 



The Dowitchers are among our best-known Bay Birds. They 

 migrate in compact flocks which are easily attracted to decoys by an 

 imitation of their fall. Mud-flats and bars exposed by the falling tide 

 are their chosen feeding grounds. On the Gulf coast of Florida I have 



