WATER BIRDS. 177 
or by some of the numerous enemies which beset ground-nesting birds. 
Miss Harriet H. Wright, of Saginaw, states that she examined two nests in 
that vicinity, May 14, 1906, one of which contained three young, and the 
other four eggs. The female is a very close sitter, seldom leaving the nest 
until almost trodden on, and occasionally 
she will allow herself to be lifted from 
the nest by the hand, sometimes even 
scrambling back as soon as released. 
The extent to which Woodcock some- 
times suffer from bad weather during Bilge As. Woodeock a: site-tip. 
migration is well shown by an account nae 
given by Arthur T. Wayne of a cold wave and gale on the coast of South 
Carolina between December 27, 1892 and January 2, 1893. He states 
that at Mt. Pleasant, S. C. 2,000 Woodcock were killed on one day and 
10,000 in six days, between the above dates (Auk, X, 204). 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Forehead and crown ashy gray, with an indistinct median black stripe; occiput and nape 
clear black, with three or four narrow cross-bars of deep buff or rufous; entire back, scapulars 
and rump black, mottled and barred with rufous, but many feathers broadly edged or 
tipped with clear bluish-gray; side of head ashy to buffy-white, with a black line from base 
of bill to eye; a similar black stripe across the ear-coverts; chin white; sides of neck brownish 
ash; throat, breast and belly buffy or pale cinnamon, deepening on the sides and flanks; 
breast and throat indistinctly barred with rufous; primaries slate-colored; secondaries 
and most of wing-coverts barred with black and buff; tail feathers mainly clear black, 
the tips abruptly ashy above, silvery white below. Sexes alike. Length 10.50 to 11.75 
inches; wing 4.80 to 5.70; culmen 2.50 to 3; tarsus 1.25. 
92. Wilson’s Snipe. Gallinago delicata (Ord). (230) 
Synonyms: Common Snipe, Jack-snipe, American Snipe, Bog-snipe, English Snipe, 
Snipe.—Scolopax Wilsoni, Temm., Nutt., Aud., and others.—Gallinago wilsoni, Bonap., 
Cass., Baird, Coues.—Scolopax drummondi, Sw. and Rich. 
Figures 51, 52. 
The distinctive marks are the long slender bill, about 24 inches, the 
comparatively short legs, the upper parts striped with brown and tan, 
and the under parts more or less streaked, spotted and barred. 
Distribution.—North and middle America, breeding from the northern 
United States northward; south in winter to the West Indies and northern 
South America. 
This is another sportsman’s bird, but, unlike the Woodcock. it is found 
mainly in the open marshes, never in woods or even in thickets along streams. 
Like the Woodcock, however, it is rarely or never seen upon the ground, 
being invisible until flushed, when it rises with a sharp call or “‘scaipe” 
and flies'‘away with great rapidity and often in a zigzag course. When first 
flushed it is likely to keep near the grass, but after flying a hundred yards 
or less it is apt to rise to a considerable height, circling about for several 
minutes and finally pitching downward and alighting not far from its 
starting point. It is never found in flocks, for although a dozen may be 
found in the compass of an acre they usually rise singly, circle independently, 
and alight separately. 
It is most abundant spring and fall, arrives from the south as soon as the 
23 
