188 



Adult in winter (New Jersey) . Crown, nape, hind neck, and upper parts generally dark dull ashy grey with 

 a brownish tinge ; scapulars rather darker, and the back slightly marked with blackish ; lower hack 

 nearly white ; upper tail-coverts and tail white, closely barred with black ; wings as in the summer, 

 but darker and without any trace of rufous; neck and upper breast white, clouded with pale ashy 

 grey; rest of the underparts white, the flanks barred with ashy brownish grey, and the under tail- 

 coverts barred with blackish. 



The present species is essentially an American bird, and has only been met with in the Palsearctic 

 Region as a rare and occasional straggler, most of the occurrences having taken place in Great 

 Britain. Mr. J. E. Harting, in his ' Handbook of British Birds,' enumerates altogether fifteen 

 occurrences in England and Scotland ; but of these some are doubtful, as for instance the four 

 stated to have been seen near Newport, Isle of Wight, in 1842, and the one in the Isle of Man 

 in 1847. Those which appear to be reliable are as follows: — One in Scilly, three in Devonshire, 

 two in Middlesex, two near Yarmouth, and one at Horsey, Norfolk, one near Carlisle, and three 

 in Scotland — viz. one near Banff on the 26th of September 1858, one on the Clyde, Lanarkshire, 

 and one near Largo in September 1867. 



It was recorded by Nilsson (I. c.) as having been obtained in Sweden ; but in his later 

 editions he excludes it, and says that it was previously included by mistake. A specimen was 

 sent from Fiskenses, in Greenland, in 1824. And it has been more than once obtained in France ; 

 for, according to Messrs. Degland and Gerbe, a specimen in winter plumage was killed by 

 M. R. Oursel in the Hoc marsh, near Havre, out of a flock of five individuals, and it has been 

 twice sold in the Paris market amongst other waders sent from Picardy. 



In America the present species is very widely distributed. Dr. E. Coues informs me that 

 it is " very widely diffused over the western hemisphere. In most of the United States it is only 

 a bird of passage, appearing in great numbers during passage, especially in the autumn, when it 

 moves more leisurely than in the spring. Its periodical wanderings, like those of most American 

 Limicolse, are very extensive. While some individuals winter in the more southern States, others 

 pass on into Central and South America, reaching even Brazil and Chili." To this I may add 

 that I found it numerous in Texas and Mexico ; Mr. Salvin obtained it in Guatemala ; Lawrence 

 records it from Costa Rica and Panama ; and Natterer met with it at Para. According to 

 Dr. Gundlach it is also found in Cuba, where it is common from September to April. 



I may further add that, according to Mr. L. Taczanowski (J. f. O. 1873, p. 112), the Red- 

 breasted Snipe has of late years been met with in North-east Siberia, northward of Jakutsk. 



In habits the present species is much more of a Sandpiper than a true Snipe. I first met 

 with it in a wild state in the lagoons bordering the Rio Grande, where, not having been 

 molested, it was extremely tame, so much so as to permit a very close approach, and I have sat 

 for hours watching this bird and several other waders feeding unconcernedly not above a dozen 

 feet from me. The Red-breasted Snipe was generally seen in flocks of from ten to thirty or 

 forty individuals, and used to frequent the soft oozy shores on one side of the lagoon, avoiding 

 the other side where the grass was tolerably long and bunches of rushes grew here and there. 

 They used to walk along on the soft mud probing like the common Snipe, occasionally wading 

 in the shallow parts of the lagoon, though seldom in places deep enough for the water to reach 

 their bodies. When flushed they rise in a tolerably compact body, and settle also very close 



