12 
FRANK FORESTER^ FIELD SPORTS. 
white; lower tail coverts white, marked with dusky; tail light 
brownish-gray, streaked—the central feathers darker. 
“Winter dress, upper parts brownish-gray; throat grayish- 
white ; fore part and sides of neck, sides of the head, and sides 
of the body, pale brownish-gray, faintly streaked with darker; 
rest of the lower parts white. Length seven inches and a half; 
wing four and an eighth. 
“ This bird, more familiar to our gunners by the name of 
* Black-breast,’ arrives on the shores of Long Island in the 
month of April. It soon passes on to the north, and is said to 
breed in the Arctic regions. In the month of September it 
returns, and at that season is quite abundant, though not so 
plentiful with us as it is on the seacoast of New-Jersey. It as¬ 
sociates in flocks, and frequents the shores, sand bars and muddy 
flats, feeding on worms and minute shell-fish, which abound in 
such places. In the month of October it is usually very fat, and 
is considered excellent eating. In autumn, the plumage is so 
entirely different from that of spring, that by gunners generally 
it is considered a distinct species, and is called by them at that 
season ‘ Winter Snipe.’ It then resembles the autumnal dress 
of the Curlew Sandpiper, the form and length of their bills being 
not unlike. By persons not accustomed to comparing birds, 
the two species might easily be confounded. The neck of the 
latter is longer and more slender—the head smaller and more 
rounded—the wings and legs longer-—and with its general 
superiority in size, is sufficient to determine the species. 
“ The Red-backed Sandpiper is found during autumn on the 
sandy and muddy shores along the whole extent of the coast of 
the United States. It is a restless, active bird, and gleans its 
food with great nimbleness, and seems to be fond of continually 
changing its position. Soon after alighting, they collect togeth 
er, and make a short excursion over the water, again alighting 
a short distance from where they had previously taken wing. 
"During their aerial excursions, when whirling about, they crowd 
so close together, that many are killed at a single shot. On one 
of these occasions, Mr. Brasher informs me that he killed fifty- 
