238 
ZOOLOGY. 
but as it was they were taken unawares, and reduced to great straits by cold and starvation. 
In habits, voice, and general appearance, this species on the west coast retains all the indi¬ 
vidual characteristics noted in eastern birds. This fact, together with the total absence of any 
skins in the Smithsonian collection, indicating the existence of another species of this genus in 
our northwest, leads me to judge, with Mr. Cassin, that there is but little probability that 
either the so-called S. Drummondii, or the S. Douglassii, exist in nature. A few remain and 
breed during the summer in the neighborhood of Puget Sound, but the greater portion retire 
to the north for that purpose. Near Fort Steilacoom they are abundant in spring and fall on 
the marshes around the small lakes in that vicinity, and also in the thicket-covered swamps 
near the mouths of the Nisqually, Puyallup, and other rivers.—S. 
The American snipe is not uncommon in the Territory during the migrating season, and I 
think a few remain throughout mild winters, but most of this species seem to go on at once to 
the plains of California, where I saw them in immense numbers in November. In habits, 
flight, and the peculiar quacking cry when startled, they precisely resemble, the same bird 
near the Atlantic. I saw them near the Columbia in August.—C. 
MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS, (Gmelin,) Leach. 
Gray Snipe ; Red-breasted Snipe. 
Scolopax grisea, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 1,1788, 658, No. 27. 
Macrorhamphus griseus, “Leach, Catal. Brit. Mus. 1816, 31.”— Stephens, Shaw. Gen. Zool. XII, 1824,61.— Bon. Am. 
Orn. IV, 1832, 51; pi. xxiii.— Baird & Cassin, Gen. Rep. Birds, 712. 
Scolopax noveboracensis, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 658, No. 28.— Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, 1813,45; pi. lviii.—Sw. F. Bor. 
Am. II, 1831,398.— Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 288; pi. 339.— Ib. Syn. 249.— Ib. Birds Amer. 
VI, 1843,10; pi. 351. 
Sp. Ch.— Rather smaller than the preceding ; bill long, compressed, flattened and expanded towards the end, and in the same 
space punctulated and corrugated ; wing rather long; shaft of first primary strong; tail short; legs rather long. Adult: Upper 
parts variegated with dark ashy, pale reddish and black, the latter predominating on the back; rump and upper tail coverts 
white, the latter spotted and barred transversely with black. Under parts pale ferruginous red, with numerous points and 
circular spots of brownish black on the neck before, and transverse bands of the same on the sides and under tail coverts; axillary 
feathers and under wing coverts white, spotted and transversely barred with black. Quills brownish black; shaft of first primary 
white; tail brownish black, with numerous transverse bands of ashy white, and frequently tinged with ferruginous, especially on 
the two middle feathers; bill greenish black; legs dark greenish brown. Younger: Entire under parts dull white, strongly 
marked with dull ashy on the neck in front, and transverse bands of the same on the sides; axillary feathers and under wing 
coverts white, spotted with brownish black; upper parts lighter than in the adult. Total length about 10 inches; wing, 5|; 
tail, 2^; bill, 2^; tarsus, 1| inch. 
Ilah. —Entire temperate regions of North America. 
Quite common in autumn near Fort Steilacoom. A few also remain throughout the summer 
and breed. A female specimen (371) killed May 5, 1856, near Fort Steilacoom, from the 
appearance of her plumage appeared to be then incubating. It measured Ilf-19, bill 3 X V 
In that vicinity the young “of the year” begin to appear on the edges of brackish pools and 
in other places abounding in their favorite food in August, and during the following two months 
birds of the species, of all ages, are very abundant.—S. 
The red-breasted or robin snipe is not very abundant, and associates in flocks, with several 
species of small sandpipers, during spring and fall, along the edges of salt marshes and flats 
near the coast.—C. 
