WILSON'S SNIPE. 339 



edges flattened, and directly meeting those of the upper mandible, the 

 extremity enlarged, the tip contracted and rather blunt. Nostrils basal, 

 linear, very small. Head rather small, oblong, the forehead elevated and 

 rounded; neck rather short; body rather full. Legs of moderate length, 

 slender; tibia bare below; tarsus scutellate before and behind; toes very 

 slender, free, scutellate; first toe very small and elevated, lateral toes nearly 

 equal, the outer connected with the third by a basal web. Claws small, 

 slightly arched, compressed, rather acute. Plumage very soft, rather dense. 

 Wings long, narrow, pointed; the first quill longest; inner secondaries much 

 elongated. Tail moderate, nearly even. 



WILSON'S SNIPE.— COMMON SNIPE. 



•+ Scolopax Wilsonii, Temm. 



PLATE CCCL.— Male and Females. 



The summer range of the Common American Snipe extends northward to 

 a considerable distance beyond the limits of the United States. During the 

 breeding season it is not to be found in our Southern Districts, much less 

 does it breed on the borders of the Mississippi, as has been alleged by some 

 writers. It may indeed sometimes happen that a pair is found during sum- 

 mer in the mountainous districts of the Carolinas; but occurrences of this 

 kind are rare, and are probably caused by one of the birds being disabled, 

 and so prevented from prosecuting its journey farther northward, although 

 not incapacitated for reproduction. Some pairs are more frequently met with 

 in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, either with eggs or with young, 

 but the great body of this species goes farther north for the purpose of 

 breeding. In the State of Maine, they become tolerably abundant at this 

 season, and as you proceed eastward you find them more numerous. In 

 Nova Scotia they are plentiful during summer, and there they breed in all 

 convenient places. 



In these northern districts, the Snipe begins to lay its eggs in the early 

 part of June. The swampy parts of the extensive moss-covered marshes in 

 elevated situations afford it places of security and comfort, in which it is not 



