SNIPES 



(230) Gallinago delicata 



(Oril) (Lat., a hen; delicate). 



WILSON'S SNIPE; ENGLISH 

 SNIPE; JACK SNIPE. Bill very 

 long but not as stout as that of the 

 Woodcock. Plumage as shown; 

 flanks barred; tail chiefly rufous; 

 back feathers broadly edged with 

 buffy-white. L., 11.25; ^V., 5.00; 

 Tar., 1.25; B., 2.50. Eggs — Three 

 or four, olive-gray, blotched with 

 black, 1.50 X 1. 10. 



Range — Breeds from N. J., III., 

 la. and Cal. north to Ungava, 

 Keewatin and Alaska. Winters south 

 from N. Car., Ark. and Cal. 



(229) EUROPEAN SNIPE (G. 

 gallinago) (Linn.). Casual in Green- 

 land. 



(230.1) GREAT SNIPE (G. 

 media) (Lath.). An Old World 

 species; accidental in Canada. 



far back on his head so that when the bill is buried as afore- 

 said, he can see all that is going on about him; they are large 

 and have owl-like qualities of vision so that he may see after 

 dusk, for feeding then is safer and worms come nearer the 

 surface. Our Woodcock gets his worms in the easiest way. 

 After a rain he does not dig, but searches under the leaves, 

 for he knows they will be there. He even often comes to 

 well-watered gardens or lawns for the same purpose; that is 

 why house cats so often catch Woodcock, and why they are 

 often found maimed or dead in cities, after they have flown 

 into unseen wires while on their nightly forages. 



Woodcock are quite silent, but they do utter peeping 

 whistles. When rising in their sudden, tortuous flight, the 

 three small, very narrow outer primaries make a character- 

 istic whistling sound. Their four eggs are laid among the 

 leaves on the ground in thickets or woods. 



WILSON'S SNIPE, just plain Snipe or English Snipe, by 

 which names they are almost universally known, are the 



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