RED-BREASTED SNIPE. 
55 
the others, and projects beyond the toe, which is not the case in 
the Woodcocks, which have that nail quite blunt and drawn back. 
On the other hand, Macroramphus agrees with Rusticola in the 
tail, that part having the regular number of twelve feathers, 
whilst in the typical Snipes the number of feathers as well as 
their shape varies amazingly in the different, and otherwise 
strikingly similar species. Some have it of twelve, others of 
fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, and one even of tiventy-four feathers, a 
number before unheard of in any other bird whatsoever. In all 
these groups the tail is nevertheless short, equal, or more or less 
rounded. In both the groups of Snipes the first quill is the 
longest; but in the species of Woodcocks the quills vary in length 
and shape, affording the same anomalies and useful marks as the 
tail-feathers in the true Snipes. In the European Woodcock the 
primaries are of equal breadth and the two first longest, while in 
the American the three outer quills are very narrow, linear, and 
the fourth and fifth longest. 
The females in this genus are similar in colour to the males, 
but larger, considerably so in the American Woodcock. They 
moult twice in the year, but the present is the only one that 
varies much with age or season. 
It will not be wronging any to call them all stupid birds, 
though the present is less so : this only of its genus is grega¬ 
rious, associating and flying in numerous flocks. Like the Snipes, 
and contrary to the Woodcocks, they do not dwell in damp 
woods or forests, but frequent open marshy grounds and morasses : 
but unlike the Snipes, they prefer the vicinity of the sea. 
They might indeed be called salt-water Snipes, in contradis¬ 
tinction to the others, which are fresh-water Snipes. Their flight 
is high, rapid, and irregular, having nothing of the heaviness of 
the Woodcocks. The flesh of all these birds is exquisite food, 
and much sought after. 
