354 TELL-TALE GOD WIT, OR SNIPE. 



with black ; wing-quills, black ; some of the primaries, and 

 all the secondaries, with their coverts, spotted round the 

 margins with black and white ; head and neck above, streaked 

 with black and white ; belly and vent, pure white ; rump 

 white, dotted with black ; tail, also white, barred with brown ; 

 the wings, when closed, reach beyond the tail ; thighs, naked 

 nearly two inches above the knees ; legs, two inches and three- 

 quarters long ; feet, four-toed, the outer joined by a membrane 

 to the middle, the whole of a rich orange yellow. The female 

 differs little in plumage from the male ; sometimes the vent is 

 slightly dotted with black, and the upper parts more brown. 



Nature seems to have intended this bird as a kind of spy 

 or sentinel for the safety of the rest ; and so well acquainted 

 are they with the watchful vigilance of this species, that, while 

 it continues silent among them, the ducks feed in the bogs 

 and marshes without the least suspicion. The great object of 

 the gunner is to escape the penetrating glance of this guardian, 

 which it is sometimes extremely difficult to effect. On the 

 first whistle of the tell-tale, if beyond gunshot, the gunner 

 abandons his design, but not without first bestowing a few 

 left-handed blessings on the author of his disappointment. 



[Mr Ord adds, "Pennant's spotted snipe is undoubtedly this 

 species. He states that it arrives at Hudson's Bay in the 

 spring ; feeds on small shellfish and worms, and frequents 

 the banks of rivers ; called there by the natives, from its noise, 

 Sa-sa-sheiv* This Indian word, pronounced with rapidity, 

 gives a tolerable idea of the whistle of the tell-tale ; and is 

 a proof of the advantage of recording the vulgar names of 

 animals, when these names are expressive of any peculiarity 

 of voice or habit."] 



* Arctic Zoology, vol. ii. p. 170. 



