348 The Water-fowl Family 



plumage to the females. A male seated on one 

 of the tussocks gives first a whistling note, then a 

 snapping of the bill several times, this followed 

 by a hissing, and the last by a gradually deepen- 

 ing sbirrrr. As he makes these notes, the bird 

 seems in an ecstasy, rising and spreading the tail 

 like a fan. When two males approach they strike 

 feebly at each other for a few minutes with their 

 wings, but soon realize their charms are better 

 fitted for display than for combat. 



The eggs are laid on a few grass stems in a 

 slight hollow of the marsh near some tussock. 



RED-BREASTED SNIPE 

 (Macrorhamphus griseus) 



Adult male in breeding plumage — Head, neck, and lower parts gen- 

 erally, light cinnamon, becoming white on the abdomen ; breast 

 and sides, mottled and speckled with brown ; head and neck, 

 streaked with the same ; upper parts, black, mixed with light 

 brown and white ; rump and upper tail-coverts, white, spotted 

 with dusky. 



Female — Resembles the male, but is larger, and the speckling on the 

 breast is finer. 



Winter plumage — Belly and under parts, white ; rest of plumage, 

 uniform gray, mixed somewhat with white on the breast and 

 sides ; a faint white stripe over the eyes. 



Young — Head, neck, and upper parts, varied with black and light 

 brown, the latter on the edges of the feathers ; lower parts, dull 

 white, marked with buff, especially on the breast ; throat and 

 sides, indistinctly speckled with dusky; iris, brown; bill and 

 feet, olive. 



Measurements — Length, n inches; wing, 5.75 inches; culmen, 

 2.25 inches ; tarsus, 1.32 inches ; middle toe, 1 inch. 



