400 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



[166.] 2. Scolopax Drummondii. (Swains.) Drummond's Snipe. 



Genus, Scolopax, Linn. 

 Peethapacasew. Cree Indians. 



Ch. Sp. Scolopax Drummondii, rectricibus sedecim, paribus duobus exterioribus paulo anguslioribus nigro et albo 



distinctis ; cceteris ferrugineo late fasciatis. 

 Sp. Ch. Drummond's Snipe, tail of sixteen feathers ; the two outer pairs somewhat narrowed, varied with black 



and white ; the rest banded with ferruginous. 



This Snipe is common in the fur-countries up to latitude 65°, and is also 

 found in the recesses of the Rocky Mountains. Its manners are in all respects 

 similar to those of the European Snipes. It is intermediate in size between 

 the Sc. major and gallinago ; it has a much longer bill than the latter, and 

 two more tail feathers. Its head is divided by a pale central stripe, as in 

 (Sc. gallinula and major : its dorsal plumage more distinctly striped than that 

 of the latter ; and the outer tail feather is a quarter of an inch shorter than that 

 of S. Douglasii. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen, killed on the Rocky Mountains. 



Colour. — Dorsal plumage and wings mostly brownish-black ; the top of the head, sca- 

 pulars, interscapulars, intermediate coverts, posterior greater ones, and tertiaries, reflecting 

 green and mottled, or barred with yellowish-brown ; this colour also forming stripes from the 

 forehead to the nape, over the eyes to the sides of the neck, and more broadly on the exterior 

 edges of the scapulars and interscapulars. Middle dorsal plumage and first quill fringed 

 with white, and most of the Aving coverts and lesser quills tipped with the same. Shafts of 

 the primaries deep brown ; an inch of the first, near its point, whitish. Rump and tail coverts 

 yellowish-brown, barred with clove-brown. Tail, of sixteen feathers ; the three central pairs 

 rich greenish-black, with reddish-orange or ferruginous ends, crossed by a blackish sub- 

 terminal line, and tipped with white ; the three exterior pairs barred alternately with clove- 

 brown and brownish-white, — the white tips broader ; the two intermediate pairs coloured 

 nearly like the middle ones, but partly barred and tipped with white. Under plumage: — A 



Note. — A specimen of a Snipe, killed by Mr. Douglas on the banks of the Columbia, sold by the Horticultural 

 Society, and now in Mr. Swainson's museum, is, probably, a distinct species, though at present the following specific 

 characters rest upon the authority of only a single specimen. Its characters are, 

 Scolopax Douglasii (Swains.), rectricibus sedecim latitudine cequalibus omnibus ferrugineo late, fasciatis prceter 



extimos qui albescent. 

 Douglas's Snipe ; tail of sixteen feathers, not narrowed, all banded with ferruginous, except the outer pair, which 



are paler. 

 Total length, 1 1^ inch. ; of wing, 5 inch.; of tarsus, 1 inch 3^ lines ; middle toe, 1 inch 2 lines ; its nail, 3 \ lines. 



The following, killed in Equinoctial Brazil by Mr. Swainson, is unquestionably distinct. It is the only Snipe 



hitherto found in South America, where it is very common. 



Scolopax Braziliensis (Swains), rectricibus sedecim; mediis ferrugineo late fasciatis ; tribus exterioribus gracil- 

 limis albis quinquies nigro interrupts fasciatis. 



Brazilian Snipe ; tail of sixteen feathers ; the middle ones banded with ferruginous ; the three outer ones very nar- 

 row, white, with five interrupted black bands. 



