GALLINAGO WILSONI, AMERICAN SNIPE. 475 



and brake as those who are not entirely iamiliar with it may suppose. 

 It frequently visits corn-fields and other cultivated tracts in the vicinity 

 of swampy grounds, and often betakes itself to the woods, where it 

 rustles among the dry leaves, turning them ov^er to search for food. It 

 is erratic, or rather capricious, in its resorts as well as in its general 

 movements north and south. A few linger, unless the season be very 

 severe, in the Middle districts all winter, but they are generally off for the 

 South with the freezing of the ground. A cold snap will suddenly drive 

 them away altogether from places where, a few hours before, they had 

 been found in numbers. The general and regular movement occurs 

 cbiefly in March and October. Some reside in the South, but the greater 

 number pass north, to return again in the fall. None appear to winter, 

 except casually, beyond our Middle districts. 



A 



GALLINAGO WILSONI, (Temm.).Bp. 

 American Snipe; Wilson's Snipe. 



Scolopax galliimgo, WiLS., Am. Orn. vi, 1812, 18, pi. 47, fig. 1. 



Scolopax wilsoni, Temm., PI. Color, v, lirr. Isviii (iii text). — Bp., Syn. 1823, 330.— Sw. & 

 Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 401.— Nutt., Man. ii, 1834, 185.— Acd., Oru. Biog. iii, 

 18S5, 322; v, 1839, 5S3; pi. 243; Syn. 1839, 248; B. Am. v, 1842, 339; pi. 350.— 

 Gri!., B. L. I. 1844, 261.— Trippb, Pr. Ess. Inst, vi, 1871, 119 (Minnesota); and 

 of many earlier authors. 

 GaUinago ^vi!son^, Bp., Comp. List, 1838, 52.— ScL., P. Z. S. 1856, 310 (Cordova).— Bd., 

 B. N. A. 1858, 710.— Salv., Ibis, 1859 (Honduras).— Newt., iTjid. 2.>^ (Santa 

 Crnz).— Taylor, ibid. 1860, 314.— Dkess., ihid. 1860, 36.— Cab. J. f. O. iv, 350 

 (Cuba). — Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soo. vii, 1859 (Babamas).— Coop. & Suck., N. H. 

 Wash. Ter. 1860, 237.— Ha yd., Rep. 1862, 174 (Loup Fork and Black Hills).— 

 SCL., P. Z. S. 1861, 80 (Jamaica) ; 1864, 178 (ilexicn) ; 1837, 280 (Mosquito Coast).— 

 Salv., iUd. 1870, 219 (Veragua).— Boaedjl, Pr. Bost. Soc. ix, 1862, 128 (Maine, 

 breeds).- Codes, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 97 (Arizona).— D all & Banx., Tr. Chic. 

 Acad, i, 1869, 291 (Alaska).— Allen, Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1868, 501 (Iowa) ; Bull. 

 M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 181 (Utah).— Lawk., Ann. Lye. ix, 141 (Costa Rica).— Sund., 

 Ofv. Koug. Vet. Ak. 587 (St. Bartholomew).— TiiiPPE, Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 

 240 (Iowa).— AiKBN, iUd. 209 (Colorado, wintering).— Stev., U. S. Geol. Surv. 

 Ter. 1870, 466 (Wyoming).— Mbrr., ibid. 1872, 700 (Montana).- Sxow, B. Kans. 

 1873, 10.— CoUES, Key, 1872, 262, tig. 163 ; and of authors. 



Gallinago galUnaria var. wilsoni, RlDGW., Ann. Lye. N. Y. x, 1874, 383. 



GalUiia/jo hrehmii, Bp., Obs. Nomen. Wils. 1825, No. 204. (Not of Kaup.) 



iScolopax dclicatula, OitD, ed. Wils. ix, 1825, 218. 



Scolopax drummondii, Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 400.— Nutt., Man. ii, 1834, 190. — 

 AuD., Orn. Biog. v, 1839, 319; Syn. 1839, 249; B. Am. vi, 1843, 9. 



GalVmago drummondii, Bp., List, 1838, 52. 



Scolopax douglasii, Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 400.— Nutt., Man. ii, 1834, 191. 



(!) Scolopax Ifueiirus, Sw. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, 1831, 501.— Nutt., Man. ii, 1834, 617. 



(?) GaUinago leacurus, Gray, Genera of Birds, pi. 157. 



-ffaft.- The whole of North America, and southward to South America. Mexico. / 

 West Indies. (?) Accidental in England (Haet., Br. Birds, 1872, 143). Breeds froni ' 

 Northern New England northward. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition.— ii^li, Mouth of Bighorn River; 9041-42, Black Hills. 



Later Expeditions.— 61103, Fort Sanders, Wyoming; 62370, Fort Ellis, Montana: 

 61157, Wyoming. 



Not obtained by Captain Raynolds' Expedition. 



The name of "English" Snipe, of common but erroneous application 

 to this bird, is wholly a misnomei-, the bird being entirely dift'oreut' from 

 that of England, as any one may perceive on comparing the two. It is 

 another of the deplorable instances iu which paucity of language has 

 caused American birds to be called by the name of their nearest^Euro- 

 pean relative, real or supposed — a circumstance tending to promulgate 

 error and confusion. We should do our best to suppress such wrong 

 names iu every instance, even without such an example as the well-nigh 



