AVIFAUNA OF LAYS AN, ETC. 



253 



61. GALLINAGO DELICATA (Ord) (?). 



WILSON'S SNIPE. 



Scolopax delicata, Ord; Wilson, Orn. ix. p. ccxviii (1825). 



Gallinago delicata, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 642 (1896) ; Henshaw, Auk, xvii. p. 204 (1900). 

 Gallinago wilsoni of many authors. 



"Mr. George C. Hewitt, Manager of the Naaleho Plantation, Kau, informs me that he 

 killed a ' Jack Snipe ' near Naaleho some years ago. Mr. Hewitt is a sportsman and is very 

 sure that the bird was no other than Gallinago, with which he is well acquainted. 



" I feel sure that Island records of the shore-birds of the north-west will multiply as 

 time goes on. The immense flocks of Plover and Turnstone that each year wend their way 

 from the American coast to the Islands must surely prove a magnet to attract other species 

 hither, to say nothing of occasional individuals that mingle with these species in migration 

 and unwittingly accompany them in their flight till all unwittingly they find themselves on 

 foreign shores. 



" The whole subject of the migration of the Plover and other species to and from the 

 distant mainland is of exceeding interest. Especially interesting would be any book bearing 

 upon the manner of the migrations and the time taken in the flight. 



" As is well known, both the Plover (Chcwadrius dominions fulmis) and the Akekeke 

 (Arenaria interpres) leave the island early in May in immense numbers and return in August. 

 My friend Mr. Patton, of Kakelau, Hawaii, has several times observed parties of Plover 

 making the land, and always in a tired, if not an exhausted, condition. Once on land they 

 seem to desire nothing but a chance to rest, but soon recuperate and go to feeding. 



"Capt. Chas. Matson has captained ships for years between San Francisco and Hilo. 

 He tells me that only twice has he seen migratory birds, once flocks of Ducks flying north 

 from the islands, and once great numbers of Plovers taking the same course. It is worth 

 noting that in both instances this vessel was about 2000 miles to the north and west of Hawaii, 

 and the inference is that the birds were steering a straight course for the Aleutians. I hope 

 to learn of other masters of vessels who can furnish notes upon this subject, and especially 

 do I hope to find some one w r ho has seen the migrating liocks of Plover resting upon the 

 ocean ; for it does not seem probable that such good swimmers as are the Plover and Turn- 

 stone attempt to make so long a flight without rest, even if their powers of wing are equal 

 to a task of such magnitude, which may be doubted." (Henshaw.) 



2 M 2 



