248 
SCOLOPACINiE. SCOLOPAX. 
edges flattened, and directly meeting those of the upper man- 
dible, the extremity enlarged, the tip contracted and rather 
blunt. Nostrils basal, linear, very small. Head rather small, 
oblong, the forehead elevated and rounded ; neck rather 
short ; body rather full. Legs of moderate length, slender ; 
tibia bare below ; tarsus scutellate before and behind ; toes 
very slender, free, scutellate ; first toe very small and ele- 
vated, lateral toes nearly equal, the outer connected with 
the third by a basal web. Claws small, slightly arched, 
compressed, rather acute. Plumage very soft, rather dense. 
Wings long, narrow, pointed ; the first quill longest ; inner 
secondaries much elongated. Tail moderate, nearly even. 
351. 1. Scolopax Wilsonii, Temm. Wilson’s Snipe.— Com- 
mon Snipe. English Snipe. 
Plate CCXLIII. Male and Female. 
Tail of sixteen feathers ; upper part of head with two brownish- 
black longitudinal broad bands, separated by a narrower central pale 
brown band ; another band of the latter colour on each side over the 
eye, then a loral band of dark brown ; chin whitish ; neck pale red- 
dish-brow'n, spotted with brownish-black ; general colour of upper 
parts brownish-black, variegated with pale reddish-brown, of which 
latter colour are the outer edges of the scapulars and of the lateral 
feathers on the anterior part of the back ; wing-coverts and inner se- 
condaries similarly mottled, the smaller anterior coverts, primary co- 
verts, primary quills, and outer secondaries, deep brown, more or less 
tipped with white ; first quill with the outer web brownish- white, 
rump barred with yellowish-grey and dusky ; upper tail-coverts simi- 
lar, but the larger barred with brownish-red and black ; tail-feathers 
brownish-black at the base, with a broad subterminal band of brown- 
ish-red on the outer web of the two middle, and on both webs of the 
rest, excepting the outer on each side, which is barred with brownish- 
black and white, the black bars five, the tips of all . white ; anterior 
part of breast like the neck, the rest white ; abdomen and lower tail- 
coverts greyish-yellow, barred with brownish-black, as are the sides ; 
axillars white, barred with greyish-black, lower wing-coverts similarly 
marked. 
Male, lOi, 17. 
Distributed throughout the country. Breeds from Virginia north- 
wards. Exceedingly abundant in the Southern and Western Districts 
during winter. 
