THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
33 
ion into the soft ground in search of its 
customary food. Having- in this way 
exhausted one place, it seeks another, 
until its appetite being- satisfied, it re¬ 
mains quiet until nightfall, when it 
flies about without fear of harm. The 
number of holes observed in the soil is 
an indication whether the snipe are 
plentiful or not in the locality, and 
their appearance readily indicates 
whether or not they have been recently 
made. 
The food of this species is chiefly 
ground-worms, insects—sometimes a 
leech will not be passed unnoticed; and 
according to some authors, it will eat 
the juicy, tender roots of different veg¬ 
etables. Although the marshy grounds 
are its usual resort, I have, on different 
occasions, met with this bird in the 
fall upon the uplands, but never in any 
numbers. I suppose, when frequenting 
such situations they obtain their food 
in the same manner as does the wood¬ 
cock, by turning over the dead leaves 
and seizing upon the insects which 
may be beneath. 
Wilson, the poet-naturalist—pioneer 
of American ornithologists—was the 
first to observe the difference between 
this bird and the European species, (to 
which, indeed, it bears a close resem¬ 
blance) and therefore it is known to 
the scientific world bearing his honored 
name. 
Gi-eat numbers of these birds are an¬ 
nually killed during their spring and 
fall migrations, and, as they are highly 
esteemed in our large cities, they are 
always in great demand. During the 
winter it is found often in large flocks 
on the wet grounds of Louisiana and 
other of the Gulf States, and the rice 
plantations of South Carolina are also 
a favorite resort. 
In the spring, when mated, the two 
birds are accustomed to mount high in 
the air about sunrise, and sail around 
each other with great rapidity, pro¬ 
ducing a curious rolling sound, caused, 
probably, by the air passing- swiftly 
through the feathers of their wings. 
The snipe is rather a prettily-marked 
bird, having- on the upper part of the 
head brownish black bands, separated 
by narrower ones of light brown, and 
another of the same color running from 
the bill over the eye. A loral band of 
dark brown, chin white, and neck red¬ 
dish brown, the outer edges of the 
scapulars 4 being yellowish white. 
Wings similarly mottled, outer edges 
of first primary white, some of the 
coverts also tipped with the same. 
Rump and upper tail coverts crossed 
with yellowish, brownish red and 
black bands. Tail feathers black, tip¬ 
ped with reddish, and with a subterm¬ 
inal black bar; outer feathers frequent¬ 
ly white and barred with black. Under 
parts white, barred on the abdomen 
sides, and under tail coverts with 
brownish black. Bill brown, darkest 
at the end. Legs dark brown. 
B. Cliff Rice. 
UT N early dawn or twilight sound 
J 1 in the Indian forests is the cry 
of the land lizards. Mr. S. E. 
Peal, of Sigsabar, Assam, states that 
these are 3£ to 4i feet long, and that 
their cry can be plainly heard a mile 
away. The native name is “Gui,” 
which is precisely the sound it makes. 
D R. W. L. ABBOT, who has been 
traveling in Central Asia, has 
forwarded to the National 
Museum at Washington a collection of 
the skins of 288 birds and more than 
100 mammals. The greatest nurnber 
of these are species new to science. 
The largest diamond ever found in 
this country weighed over 23 carats. 
