246 SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 
barred with black; outer tail-feathers barred with black and white, inner 
ones black, barred with rufous at their ends and tipped with whitish. L., 
11°25; W., 5°00; Tar., 1°20; B., 2°50. - 
Range. —N. A. and n. 8. A. Breeds from nw. Alaska, n. Mackenzie, 
cen. Keewatin, and n. Ungava s. to n. Calif., s. Colo., n. Iowa, n. Ills., Pa., 
and n. N. J.; winters from n. Calif., N. Mex., Ark., and N. C., through Cen. 
Am. and West Indies to Colombia ‘and s. Brazil: remains in winter casually 
and locally n. to Wash., Mont., Nebr., Ills., and N. S.; accidental in Hawaii, 
Bermuda, and Great Britain. 
Washington, common T. V., Mch. 9—May 11; Aug. 30-Nov. 18, occasional 
in winter, Long Island, common T. V., Mch. and Apl.; Aug —Oct., 2 few 
winter. Ossining, tolerably common T. V., Mech. 20-May 6; Oct. 6-Nov. 
20. Cambridge, common T. V., Apl. 6-May 6; Sept. 12—Nov. 15. N. Ohio, 
common T. V., Mch. 19-May 15; Sept. 15-Oct. 30. Glen as common 
T. V., Mch. 26-May 11; Sept. 1-Nov. 4. SE. Minn., common 8S. R., Mch, 
11-Oct. 31., A. V. in winter. 
Nest, of grasses, on the ground in marshy places. Eggs, 3-4, olive, clay- 
color, or brownish ashy, heavily marked with chocolate, principally at the 
larger end, 1°60 x 1:17. Date, Lake Co., Ills., Apl. 24; se. Minn., May 10. 
Wilson’s Snipe frequents fresh-water meadows and swamps, and 
in spring is often found in low-lying swales in meadows or mowing 
fields, but, excepting in very dry seasons, it seldom alights on salt 
marshes. At times, especially in winter or early spring, when the 
meadows are covered with snow or ice, it resorts to springy runs wooded 
with alders, birches, and maples, but as a rule it prefers open places. 
Two things are essential to its requirements—ground so thoroughly 
water-soaked as to afford slight resistance to its long and highly sen- 
sitive bill when probing, and such concealment as tussocks, hillocks, 
or long grass afford, for, unlike the Sandpipers, the Snipe rarely ven- 
tures out on bare mud flats, save under cover of darkness. Although 
less strictly nocturnal than the Woodcock, it feeds and migrates chiefly 
by night or in ‘thick’ weather. Its migratory movements are noto- 
riously erratic, and meadows which one day are alive with birds may be 
quite deserted the next, or the reverse. 
Dear to our sportsmen is Wilson’s Snipe, partly because of the 
excellence of its flesh, but chiefly from the fact that it furnishes a mark 
which taxes their skill to the utmost, and which no mere novice need 
hope to hit, unless by accident; for the bird’s flight is swift and tortu- 
ous, and it springs from the grass as if thrown by a catapult, uttering 
a succession of hoarse, rasping scatpes which 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 meadows 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 this Snipe. The performance may be sometimes witnessed in 
broad daylight when the weather is stormy, but ordinarily it is reserved 
for the morning and evening twilight and for moonlight nights, 
when it is often kept up for hours in succession. 
