24 
FRANK FORESTER^ FIELD SPORTS. 
white; upper tail coverts brownish-black, their bases white; 
upper parts greyish-brown, scapulars marked with darker; feet 
bluish. Length fifteen inches and a half, wing eight and a half. 
Young with the lower parts brownish-grey, the ferruginous 
markings wanting. 
“ This bird with us is not as plentiful as the former, and is 
known to the gunners by the name of ‘ Ring-tailed Marlin/— 
so called from the white band crossing the tail feathers. A few 
are shot every season on the shores of Long Island, and are occa¬ 
sionally procured on the sea-coast of the Eastern States. Though 
not abundant in the middle districts, it is by no means a rare 
species. It is said to breed abundantly on the barren grounds 
near the Arctic seas, from whence it migrates through the inte¬ 
rior, or along the coast of the Pacific. Its habits are nearly 
allied to the preceding, with which it sometimes associates.” 
No. 9. The Red-breasted Snipe —Scolopax Noveboracensis ; 
Gmel .— Vulgo, Dovritcher, or Quail Snipe. 
Red-breasted Snipe, Scolopax Noveboracensis, Wils. Amer. Orn. Scolopax 
grisea, Bonap. Syn. Scolopax Noveboracensis, New-York Godwit, Sw. & 
Rich. Brown or Red-breasted Snipe. Nutt. Mann. Red-breasted Snipe, 
Scolopax Noveboracensis, Aud. Om. Biog. 
“ Specific Character .—Spring plumage,\ipper parts brownish- 
black, variegated with light brownish-red; lower parts dull 
orange-red, abdomen paler, spotted and barred with black; 
rump white; the tail feathers, and the upper and lower tail 
coverts alternately barred with white and black. In autumn the 
upper parts are brownish-gray; the lower parts grayish-white ; 
the tail feathers, and the upper and lower tail coverts, the same 
as in spring. Adult with the bill toward the end black, lighter 
at the base ; top of the head, back of the neck, scapulars, ter- 
tials, and fore part of the back, blackish-brown, variegated with 
feiruginous; secondaries and wing coverts clove brown, the 
