SNIPE. 
95 
towards the point, and of a dirty eelskin colour at the 
base, where it is tumid and wrinkled ; lores, dusky ; 
cheeks and eyebrows, pale yellowish white, mottled 
with specks of black ; throat and breast, a reddish buff 
colour ; sides, white, barred with black ; belly and vent, 
white, the latter barred with dusky ; crown, neck 
above, back, scapulars, and tertials, black, edged, 
mottled, and marbled with yellowish white, pale and 
bright ferruginous, much in the same manner as the 
common snipe ; wings, plain olive, the secondaries, 
centred and bordered with white; shaft of the first 
quill, very white ; rump, tail-coverts, and tail (which 
consists of twelve feathers,) white, thickly spotted with 
black ; legs and feet, dull yellowish green ; outer toe 
united to the middle one by a small membrane ; eye, 
very dark. The female, which is paler on the back, 
and less ruddy on the breast, has been described by Mr 
Pennant as a separate species. * 
These birds doubtless breed not far to the northward 
of the United States, if we may judge from the lateness 
of the season when they leave us in spring, the largeness 
of the eggs in the ovaries of the females before they 
depart, and the short period of time they are absent. 
Of all our sea-side snipes, it is the most numerous, and 
the most delicious for the table. From these circum- 
stances, and the crowded manner in which it flies and 
settles, it is the most eagerly sought after by our 
gunners, who send them to market in great numbers. 
SUBGENUS II. SCOLOPAX , VIEILL, 
234. SCOLOPAX BREHMIIj KAUP . — SCOLOPAX G ALLIN AGO , WILS. 
SNIPE. 
WILSON, PLATE LVIII. FIG. I. 
This bird is well known to our sportsmen ; and, if 
not the same, has a very near resemblance to the 
common snipe of Europe. It is usually known by the 
* See his Brown Snipe, Arctic Zoology , No. 369. 
