8284 



Birds. 



Observations and Remarks on Scolopax gallinago and Corvus corone of Wilson. -—■ 

 Both these and other species have by some writers been considered identical with 

 those of Europe, though they specifically differ, either in habits, plumage or organiza- 

 tion. Both species, for instance, though bearing so strong a family likeness to those 

 of Europe, are readily distinguishable by the careful observer ; so that one cannot but 

 feel surprised that such an experienced ornithologist as Wilson, to say nothing of the 

 absurd notions of Buffon and other authors of the old school, should have confounded 

 them. The American snipe, he says, " if not the same, has a very near resemblance to 

 the common snipe of Europe ;" then suggests whether it may not be " partially changed 

 by difleience of climate," yet how that could have given it the extra tail-feathers 

 he does not explain, but it is a fact that ought to have settled the question, or rather 

 have prevented its having ever been raised ; and though they do not greatly differ in 

 size, they do in colour, many of those I examined being darker than the European 

 bird, particularly about the back and scapulars ; however, the skin with which they 

 were compared may possibly have been somewhat faded. And to crown all, the American 

 snipe is a percher. This I know will not be credited by closet- naturalists, or by those 

 authors who, having committed themselves to a contrary opinion, are not open to con- 

 viction : " A man convinced against his will is of the same opiniou still ;" " Straining 

 at a gnat, yet ready to swallow a camel ;" the old woman could believe in "mountains 

 of sugar and oceans of rum," but nothing would convince her that there were flying- fish 

 in the world. To prove that snipes perch I will now give an extract from my note- 

 book: — " St. John's, Newfoundland, July 23, 1857. There being nothing particular 

 to see in the town but the cathedral, or peculiar except the vast stages for curing cod 

 erected on the precipitous banks of this noble land-locked harbour, I sallied forth to 

 explore the neighbouring woods and swamps in quest of birds, having an eye to snipes, 

 which the spongy nature of the soil led me to expect. A few robins and other birds 

 were shot as I traversed the bush, not tall trees as in Canada, but pine and larch of a 

 dwarfish growth, which on these bleak exposed hills and uplands, covered with the rasp- 

 berry, gooseberry and strawberry, seldom exceed fifteen or twenty feet in height. Birds 

 appeared scarce ; I did not, I think, observe more than a dozen species. The most 

 striking was a small active yellow bird, Sylvia citrinella I believe (a true willow wren), 

 subsequently found so abundant in Canada. Having come to a promising marsh, I 

 began to beat it in a regular manner, and ere long was rewarded by the springing of 

 several snipes, which were shot in a sportsman-like manner, i.e., on the wing. I then 

 descried, on the topmost bar of a fence carried through the swamp, what appeared to 

 be a somewhat strange-looking bird ; so, being bent on securing rarities, I approached 

 it as quietly as a huge pair of water-boots would admit, bringing my gun to the ready, 

 but there was no need of such caution, the bird being seemingly in a deep reverie, out 

 of which it was doomed never to awake. Fearing to spoil the specimen if I took 

 many more strides in advance before firing, I knocked it over. It proved to be what 

 I had half suspected, a snipe. My eyes thus opened, three more were on this and the 

 following day shot in a similar manner, — a fourfold proof of the perching habits of 

 Scolopax americanus." Though the 23rd of July, 1857, was one of the hottest days I 

 ever remember, there had been the previous night a heavy fall of rain, which may pos- 

 sibly account for the number of snipes found basking in the sun. When it is affirmed 

 that the partridges of Southern India and of Canada are perchers, the statement is 

 received without question. My acquaintance with snipes dates from the year 1825, 

 when 1 first began to shoot them, and I have in this country, in less than two seasons, 



