SCOL OVA CIVjE : SNIPE. 



621 



this family), less so than in Scolopax or Philohela; no primaries attenuate. Tail short, 

 rounded, of numerous (in our species 10) feathers, of which tlie lateral are narrowed; tail 

 barred crosswise. Sexes alike; i^easonal changes of plumage nut jtronounced. Numerous 

 species of all countries; one N. American, and another straggling to Greenland from Europe. 



Anahj^ls of Specks. 



Axillars and flanks white, incompletely or imperfectly barred Willi blackish media GD7 



Axillars and flanks fully and regalar/y barred with white and blackish wilsoni G0« 



G. me'dia. (Lat. media, mediunj (in size, between two other European species.) Fig. 4o0.) 

 European Snipe. "English hnipe" proper. In size, form, and general coluratiou indistin- 

 guishable from No. 608, but the axillary feathers almost entirely white, with sliglit and sj.iarse 

 dark markings, and the feathers of the flanks and sides less frequently and less regularly barred 



Fig. 436. — The Snipe's family. (From " Sport with Gun and Bod." The Century Co., N. Y.) 



with dark gray. (In the lesser European Snipe, G. gaUinula, the sides and lining of wings are 

 fully barred as in our S. wilsoni, but the tail-feathers are 14, the outer ones little shorter and 

 not abruptly narrower than the rest.) Europe : Only N. American as occurring in Greenland. 

 608. G. wU'soni. (To A. Wilson. Figs. 4.31, 433, 43G.) American Snipe. AA^ilson's 

 Snipe. "EnCxLisii" Snipe (so-called). Jack-Snipe. Adult $ 9 : Crown black, with a 

 pale oehrey middle stripe. Up])er parts brownish -black, varied with bright bay and ta^niy, 

 the scapular feathers smoothly and evenly edged with tawny or whitish, forming two length- 

 wise stripes on each side when the wings are folded. Quills and greater coverts blackish- 

 brown, usually with white tips, and outer web of first primary usually white. Lining of 

 wings and axillars white, fully and regulariy barred with black. Rump black, the feathers 

 with white tips. Upper tail-coverts tawny with numerous black bars, and tail-feathers black 



