71 
1875. 
Gallinago wilsoni, 
Middlesex County, Mass , 
(Apr.12) 
One in the Fresh Pond marshes, e/idently the same 
bird seen there on the 10th, The ground in the neigh¬ 
borhood was thickly bored. 
17. One in the Fresh Pond marshes. I do not think 
there has been any considerable flight of these birds as 
yet. The meadows in most places are still frozen hard 
underneath and no green thing has started anywhere except 
in »unny spots on the uplands. 
ft 
22 . 
li 
I 
I 
i 
Spent an hour or more watching nine in the corner of 
a meadow near Fresh Pond crossing. My attention was 
first attracted to them by hearing a Snip-Oi e remarkable 
note which I recognized as one I heard uttered by a 
Snipe on the Belmont meadows several years ago. Ap¬ 
proaching cautiously and peeping through the fringe of 
bushes I discovered a largo Snipe basking in the sun on 
the top of a tussock and several others within a few 
yards on aft-adjoining mounds, all within thirty yards of 
me. ' Frequently one would doze in the sunshine for min¬ 
utes at a time supported on one lag only, the other 
drawn up among his feathers. Others wore preening 
their plumage, using their long bills most adroitly and 
frequently passing through them the feathers of their 
wide-spread tail. Tvro or three wore always engaged in 
boring; this interesting operation reminded me forcibly 
of eel spearing. The Snipe standingv in a crouching 
attitude v,rith its body nearly horizontal thrust down its 
bill, never vertically, but invariably at an incline for¬ 
ward of about 4^, The thrusts wore made v/ith aston¬ 
ishing quickness at least two each second. While thus 
engaged the bird stood perfectly still, lunging out on 
all sides just as the eel spearer does. A worm seemed 
to be captured once in about a dozen thrusts. When 
struck it was dravm out rapidly(again recalling the quick 
hand over hand of the Eel spear) elevated for a moment 
in the air, then swallowed with a shake or two of the 
birds head. Occasionally one of these Snipe would flit 
like a Solitary Sandpiper for a few yards and alight on 
the ice (the meadow was covered with v/ater to the depth 
of nearly a foot), standing a moment with upraised wings, 
then v/alking in a crouching attitude to some exposed 
mound of earth. Once five or six of them walked in sin¬ 
gle file across a wide expanse of bare ice their crouch¬ 
ing attitudes and stealthy stops reminding me of those of 
a file of Indians on the war path. This crouching atti¬ 
tude vms almost invariably assumed when they were v;alking 
about, the noct drawn in between the shoulders, the bill 
invariably pointing downward. When basking in the sun, 
however, the body was nearly erect, the head thrown back, 
the bill resting on the breait. At frequent intervals 
one or another of them would-utter the cry just refered 
to. It was a rapidly given cup-cup- cup -cup-cu^- eup- cup, 
uttered with a slightly falling inflection and occasiona¬ 
lly varied to: keP-kop-kep etc. Once I saw one make a 
run at another holding his long bill couched nearly hori- 
