SCOLOPACID^ : SNIPE. 
621 
this fiiinily), IgkSS so than in Scolopax or Philohela; no primaries attenuate. Tail short, 
rounded, of numerous (in our species 10) feathers, of which the hiteral are narrowed ; tail 
barred crosswise. Sexes alike; seasonal changes of plumage not pronounced. Numerous 
species of all countries ; one N. American, and another straggling to Greenland from Europe. 
Analysis of Species. 
Axillars and flanks white, incompletely or imperfectly barred with blackish . media 607 
Axillars and flanks fully and regularly barred with white and blackish wilsoni 608 
607. G. me'dia. (Lat. media, medium (in size, between two other European species.) Fig. 430.) 
EuKOPEAN Snipe. ''English snipe" proper. In size, form, and general coloration indistiu- 
guishable from No. 608, but the axillary feathers almost entirely white, with slight and sparse 
dark markings, and the feathers of the flanks and sides less frequently and less regularly barred 
Fig. 436. — The Snipe's family. (From " Sport with Gun and Rod." The Century Co., N. Y.) 
with dark gray. (In the lesser European Snipe, G. gallinula, the sides and lining of wings are 
fully barred as in our S. wilsoni,^ but the tail-feathers are 14, the outer ones little shorter and 
not abruptly narrovA-er than the rest.) Europe : Only N. American as occurring in Greenland. 
608. G. wil'soni. (To A. Wilson. Figs. 431, 433, 436.) American Snipe. Wilson's 
Snipe. ''English" Snipe (so-called). Jack-Snipe. Adult ^ 9 Crown black, with a 
pale ochrey middle stripe. Upper parts brownish -black, varied with bright bay and tawny, 
the scapular feathers smoothly and evenly edged with tawny or whitish, forming two length- 
wise stripes on each side when the wings are folded. Quills and greater coverts blackish - 
brown, usually with white tips, and outer web of first primary usually white. Lining of 
wings and axillars white, fully and regularly barred with black. Rump black, the feathers 
with white tips. Upper tail-coverts tawny with numerous black bars, and tail-feathers black 
