Chapter VII: Introduction (6)

On the 17th of May, 1905, as I was passing through a patch of low
ground overgrown with second growth willows, a rather large-sized
bird flushed from a spot a few feet from where I had jumped over a
neck of water. I did not see the exact place from which the bird
had flown, but the fluttering sound of her wing caught my ear, and
looking ahead I saw the creature, who with outspread tail and
wings, was fluttering on the damp earth, and with her long bill
down in the mud, was giving vent to a series of squeaking sounds. I
knew at once that this bird had flushed from a nest, and that the
object of her actions was to draw my attention from something that
she was very desirous to conceal; but a little research revealed a
nest containing four beautiful eggs. A clump of willows a little
elevated stood about 6 feet from the pool over which the bird had
flown, and midway between the water and the willows, which overhung
it the nest was placed. This was simply a slight depression made by
the bird in the moss and dry grass, and except from its concealed
situation and being a little more expanded, there was no particular
distinction between it and those of the more familiar killdeer
plover and spotted sandpiper, though the lining was probably of a
warmer texture, being of fine dry grass, while the eggs, as in the
case of all the ground nesting waders, were arranged with the small
ends inward.

A Colorado nest is thus described by Robert B. Rockwell (1912):

This nest was located on (and above) the surface of slightly damp
ground at the edge of a good-sized area of very soft, boggy land
formed by the seepage under the dyke of the Big Barr Lake. It was
built in the center of a tussock of grass about 8 inches in length
and was a very neat, well-shaped, and cupped nest composed entirely
of fine dry grass. In construction it was far superior to any shore
bird's nest I have ever seen, being so compactly and strongly put
together that it was possible to remove it from the nesting site
without injury. In general appearance the nest itself is not unlike
certain sparrows' nests.

A nest photographed for me by F. Seymour Hersey, near the mouth of the Yukon River, Alaska, was in a very wet spot on the border of a marsh; it was a deep hollow prettily arched over with dry grasses at the base of a small willow bush.

The Wilson snipe is often a close sitter and sometimes will not leave the nest until nearly trodden upon. W. J. Brown (1912) tells of a case where he stroked the bird on the back and had to lift her off the nest to photograph the eggs.

Mr. Sutton (1923) has published a full and very interesting account of the breeding habits of the Wilson snipe in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where he found several nests in a large, wet swamp among cattails and grasses; of the first nest he says:

The nest was beautifully situated in the center of a clump of dried
fern stalks--a clump similar to hundreds of just such little
islands near at hand but certainly admirably suited to such a
nesting site, for the eggs were almost completely surrounded at the
short distance of 4 inches by a paling of dead fern stalks. The
eggs were about 9 inches above water at this time, although the
water's depth changed constantly with every rainfall, and five days
later the outer rim of the nest was only 2 inches above water
level. Another was built upon a bit of decayed, sunken log and was
composed entirely of grass stems rather carefully laid together.
The eggs were but a few inches above the surface of the water, and
although grass stems connected the nesting site with other
vegetation the nest was virtually on an island surrounded by water
18 inches deep.

And of still another he says:

This nest was the only snipe nest I have seen which had any real
protection from above. The nest was so placed under a dead willow
branch and some leaning cat-tail stalks that it was really
difficult to see it. The grasses composing the nest had been placed
with care and were somewhat woven about the cat-tail stalks and
other grasses standing near.

_Eggs._--Four eggs is the normal number laid by the snipe; rarely five eggs are laid. They are about ovate pyriform in shape and slightly glossy. The ground colors vary from "buckthorn brown" or "Isabella color" in the darkest types to "deep olive buff" or "dark olive buff" in the lighter types, which are much commoner. As a rule the eggs are boldly spotted and blotched, chiefly about the larger end; but often they are spotted more or less evenly over the entire surface. The markings are in dark shades of brown, "burnt umber," "bister," or "bone brown." Often there are splashes or scrawls of brownish black, or black, at the larger end. "Snuff brown," "vinaceous drab," or "brownish drab" under spots or blotches often occur. The measurements of 57 eggs average 38.6 by 28.1 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =42.4= by 29.5, =36.1= by =29.9=, and 37.5 by =25.5= millimeters.

_Young._--The period of incubation is from 18 to 20 days, and it is shared by both sexes. Mr. Philipp (1925) says that three birds taken from the nest were all males. The young leave the nest soon after they are hatched, and wander about in the long grass, where their concealing coloration makes them very hard to find. One day, while watching snipe with J. R. Whitaker on a large marsh near the mouth of Sandy River in Newfoundland, I saw a snipe several times go down into the grass at a certain place. Thinking to find a nest there I made a careful search, and finally found one small downy young; but not another one could I find in a long hunt. This moist meadow full of grassy hummocks is a great breeding place for snipe. Here we frequently saw snipe sitting in trees, bushes, or on telegraph poles, uttering their loud _kep kep kep_ notes of protest. On the girders of a steel bridge that spans the river at this point Mr. Whitaker has seen as many as five snipe perched at one time.

Mr. Sutton (1923) describes the behavior of an anxious mother as follows:

The mother's antics so claimed my attention that I did not keep
close enough watch of the young, and eventually was unable to find
them. I hesitated to tramp about much at the time for fear of
stepping upon them. The mother bird grunted and clucked incessantly
and fell upon her side uttering weird cries, and beating her wings
pitiably. At times she would dart into the air and circle about in
great haste, very close to me and alight in the tall grass, whence
she would run gracefully away until she was again plainly in view.
As she ran about her head was held rather stiffly, and it seemed
that moving it from side to side much caused her inconvenience. In
fact once or twice a definite impression was given that she was
carrying something in her mouth, her head was held at such a
strained angle.

_Plumages._--The young snipe in its dark and richly-colored natal down is one of the handsomest of the young waders. The upper parts, including the crown, back, wings, and thighs, are variegated or marbled with velvety black, "bay," "chestnut," and "amber brown"; the down is mainly black at the base and brown-tipped; the entire upper parts are spotted with small round white spots at the tips of some of the down filaments, producing a beautiful effect of color contrasts and a surprisingly protective coloration. The head is distinctively marked with a white spot on the forehead, a black crescent above it and a black triangle below it, partially concealed by brown tips; there is a distinct black loral stripe, extending faintly beyond the eye, and a less distinct black malar stripe; between these two is a conspicuous, large, white, cheek patch. The chin and upper throat are "light ochraceous buff"; below this on the lower throat is a large sooty-black area, partially concealed by brown tips, these "tawny" brown tips predominating on the breast and flanks, and shading off to "pale pinkish cinnamon" on the belly.

The juvenal plumage appears first on the back and scapulars, then on the breast and wing coverts. A bird in my collection, about half grown has the above parts well feathered and the remiges one-third grown; but the head and rump are still downy and the rectrices have not yet started. The juvenal plumage is like the adult, except that the buff edgings of the feathers on the sides of the back and the scapulars, forming the stripes, are narrower and paler, sometimes almost white on the outer webs. The body feathers and some of the scapulars and tertials are molted during the fall, making the young bird almost indistinguishable from the adult.

Both young birds and adults have a partial prenuptial molt in the late winter and early spring, involving the contour feathers, wing coverts, tertials, and the tail. Adults have a complete molt between July and October. The spring and fall plumages are alike except that the fresh fall plumage is somewhat more richly colored.

_Food._--The feeding habits of the Wilson snipe are much like those of the woodcock, except that it often feeds in much wetter places and is somewhat less nocturnal. Benjamin T. Gault (1902) discovered by observation that snipe occasionally resort to open mud flats, unmindful of the cover of darkness and that they feed at all hours of the day. He describes their method of feeding as follows:

The snipe seemed to select as special feeding grounds the water
line just bordering the flats, where the mud was soft and into
which they delighted in sinking their bills to the fullest depth.
And in withdrawing them they never elevated their necks in true
sandpiper style. On the contrary they kept their heads well
"chucked down," so to speak, and in moving about from place to
place, which they seldom did, however, continue to hold them in the
same fashion.

In some respect their probing methods resembled the rooting of
swine--a simple, up and down forward movement, and if remembered
rightly, without lateral twists or side thrusts of any kind, and
at times exposing fully one-half of the bill.

Whether the Wilson snipe actually do resort to the so-called
"suction" method of procuring their food is a question still
undetermined in my mind. The glasses however brought out the
important information that the probing or feeling movements of the
bill were accompanied every now and then with a guttural or
swallowing motion of the throat, which at times developed into a
decided gulp, as though large morsels of some kind were being
taken down, and this _without the removal of the bill from the
muck_.

Henry W. Henshaw (1875) describes an entirely different method of feeding; he says:

In migrating, however, especially in Arizona and New Mexico, did it
depend wholly upon its usual methods of obtaining sustenance, it
would fare badly, since, in some sections, there is a total lack of
meadow and marsh, and then it may be seen in broad midday running
along the sandy borders of the streams, and picking up from among
the pebbles and _débris_ any tidbits in the shape of insects it can
find. It retains, however, even under these adverse conditions, its
habit of squatting, and, when approached closely I have seen it
lower its body close to the ground, shrink as it were into as
little space as possible, and so remain till I was within a few
feet, when it would get up with its well known _scaip_, _scaip_,
and, following the turns and sinuosities of the streams, endeavor
to find some little covered nook into which it could drop out of
sight.

M. P. Skinner watched a snipe feeding on the muddy shore of a pond in the Yellowstone Valley; he says in his notes:

He was about 6 inches from shore and at each stroke his bill went
in up to his eyes. The strokes were rapid like those of a
woodpecker. He covered a space perhaps 4 inches wide and 15 feet
long in an hour, getting something every half dozen strokes or so.
He was very busy there for two hours at least.

Earthworms probably constitute the principal food of the Wilson snipe, but it also eats cutworms, wireworms, leaches, grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, mosquitoes, other insects and their larvae, and some seeds of marsh plants.

_Behavior._--Snipe are notorious for their erratic flight and they often, probably usually, do dodge and zigzag when they first flush in alarm, but not always; I have seen them fly away as steadily as any other shore bird. Snipe usually lie closely crouched on the ground trusting to their excellent protective coloration, and do not flush until nearly trodden upon; so that in their hurry to get away their flight is erratic. When well under way their flight is steady and swift with the occasional turnings common to all shore birds. When first flushed they generally fly low, but when flying from one part of a marsh to another, or when migrating, they fly very high. When alighting they pitch down suddenly from a great height and then flutter down slowly into the grass or drop straight down with wings elevated and bill pointing upwards. They are less gregarious than other waders; they usually flush singly, but often within a few yards of each other if plentiful. They are seldom seen in flocks. John T. Nichols tells me in his notes of a flock of seven which he saw on Long Island:

They were flying high from the east to west, the regular southward
lane for shore birds, and bunched up like dowitchers or yellow-legs
as they circled over the marsh, then slanted down obliquely (as
these other birds would have done) to alight on a piece of dead
stubble. By the time I reached them they had scattered somewhat;
four (scattered) and three (bunched) flushed from this spot in
close succession, and went off into the southwest. The migration of
the snipe may be mostly by night; it certainly flies to some extent
along the coast by day.

And Harry S. Swarth (1922) says:

While the usual manner of occurrence was for a single bird to be
flushed, or perhaps two or three within a few square yards, there
were times when snipe were noted in small flocks, almost like
sandpipers in their actions. Groups of 10 or 12 individuals were
seen circling about through the air in close formation and wheeling
or turning in perfect unison. At such times almost the only thing
to betray the identity of the birds was the call note, uttered at
frequent intervals. At no time, however, did birds flushed from the
ground depart in flock formation.

On the ground the snipe moves about deliberately with bill pointing downwards. If alarmed it squats for concealment before jumping into flight when hard pressed; the longitudinal stripes on its back and head so closely resemble prostrate stems of dead grass that the bird is difficult to distinguish. Mr. Skinner "saw one alight and run rapidly along the ground for 20 feet, erect with head high, like a running bob white." C. J. Pennock watched one standing on a bare mud flat with "a continued up and down rhythmic movement of the entire body." E. H. Forbush (1925) writes:

The snipe can swim and dive and uses both wings and feet under
water in its efforts to escape. Mr. Will H. Parsons writes that he
shot one that fell into a little clear streamlet where later he
found it dead, under water, grasping a rootlet in its bill. Later,
on the Scioto River, as he relates, he shot another which fell into
the river, and, turning, swam back toward the shore. On seeing him
approach it dived, and he saw it grasp a weed with its bill. Wading
in he secured the bird "stone dead."

_Voice._--Eliminating the winnowing flight notes, which are unquestionably instrumental, the Wilson snipe has a variety of vocal notes. The one most often heard is the familiar _scaipe_ note, a note of alarm and warning, given as the bird rises in hurried flight. This note has been variously expressed in writing, perhaps best by the word "escape", which the snipe often does, unless the sportsman is smart enough to say "no you don't," and prove it. "On the breeding grounds we frequently hear its loud notes of protest, uttered while it is flying about or perched on some tree or post; these are in the form of a loud clear whistle, like _wheat wheat wheat wheat_ or more subdued in tone like _whuck whuck whuck whuck_; they are always rapidly uttered and usually consist of four or five notes. E. W. Nelson (1887) refers to a similar note heard on the breeding grounds, as _yak yak yak yak_ in quick, energetic, explosive syllables. At the time when the bird is uttering its note, it flies along within a short distance of the ground with a peculiar jerky movement of the body and wings as every note is uttered."

Mr. Nichols says in his notes:

When a bird gets up almost from underfoot, the _scape_ is at times
replaced by a series of short, hurried notes of similar character.
It is interesting to find in the Wilson's snipe this imperfect
differentiation of a note uttered at the moment of taking wing from
one uttered when in or approaching full flight--as it is a
condition slightly different from the calls of other more social
shore birds which trust comparatively little to concealment, take
wing while danger is still at a distance with hurried minor notes,
so soft as to readily escape notice, and have each a loud
diagnostic flight call of much service in their identification.

The _scape_ of the snipe has sufficient resemblance to the
woodcock's _peent_, which forms a part of the nuptial performance
of that species, to leave little doubt that the two are homologous
(that is, of the same derivation), if we assume snipe and woodcock
to be related. It is, however, more analogous (that is, of
corresponding place or purpose) with the wing twitter of the
woodcock. Its harsh quality is in keeping with the voices of
unrelated denisons of marsh and swamp, herons, rails, frogs, etc.,
and the discords of close-by bog sounds continually in its ears.
The quality of the snipe's call contrasts sharply with the
peculiarly clear, mellow whistle of the black-breasted plover, for
instance, and ringing calls of species of similar habit, with
carrying power over the open distances of their haunts. The
connecting series of limicoline voices, through the reedy calls of
such marsh-loving birds as the pectoral sandpiper, leaves little
doubt that there is a correlation between habitat and quality of
voice.

In some notes from Alaska, he writes:

July 17, on the slope of a low, gentle, tundra hill a little way
back from the shore, ahead of me a snipe fluttered up a short
distance, then down; up, then down; accompanying this performance
with _chup chup chup chup chup chew chew chew chew chew_. It
alighted in a comparatively open space with a couple of small bog
holes of water, surrounded with a circle of scrub willows, and here
I presently flushed it again. It rose with a _chape_ note, more
muffled and reedy than the ordinary Wilson snipe _scape_, and,
curving downwind, rose higher, attaining considerable elevation in
the distance, as I followed it with my glass. It now began to
zigzag up and down, maintaining approximately its position in the
sky to leeward. Meanwhile I heard an unfamiliar more or less
whistled _peep-er-weep_ once or twice, and an intermittent
winnowing sound, _wish wish wish wish wish_, etc. Being uncertain
as to whether these sounds came from the distant snipe, or from
some other bird closer at hand in the air, I took my glasses off
the former to look about me, and as I feared I should do, lost
track of it in the sky. Presently the winnowing ceased and I began
to hear a continuous harsh _cuta-cuta-cuta-cuta_ from over the brow
of the hill, which turned out to be a snipe, presumably the same
one which had returned, standing on top of the only stake
thereabouts.

_Field marks._--The Wilson snipe should be easily recognized by its long bill, its erratic flight, its conspicuous stripes, and the rufous near the end of its tail. The harsh _scaipe_ note is diagnostic. It might be confused with the dowitcher, but the flight, notes, and usual haunts of the latter are different. I have often thought that the pectoral sandpiper resembles the snipe, as it rises from the grass, but it lacks the long bill, and is not so conspicuously striped on the back.

_Fall._--The fall migration of snipe is dependent on the weather, the first early frosts are apt to start them along; when the brilliant red leaves of the swamp maples add their touch of color to the marshes, and when the vegetation in the meadows begins to take on the rich hues of autumn, then we may look for the coming of the snipe. They are by no means confined to fresh-water marshes at this season. I have occasionally flushed a Wilson snipe on the salt marshes of Cape Cod, and have frequently found them on the dry grassy shores of islands in inland ponds.

Wells W. Cooke (1914) says:

They seem reluctant to return south in fall, even though they can
have no appreciation of the constant persecution which awaits them
during the six months' sojourn in their winter home. A few migrants
appear in the northern part of the United States in early
September, and, moving slowly southward, reach the southern part of
the Gulf States shortly after the middle of October. Soon the main
body of the birds follows, and all normally keep south of the line
of frozen ground. Yet every winter some laggards remain much
farther north, feeding about springs or streams. A few can usually
be found on Cape Cod, Mass., while in the Rocky Mountains, near
Sweetwater Lake, Colorado, the presence of warm springs has enabled
snipe to remain throughout an entire winter, though the air
temperature fell to 30° F. below zero.

Mr. Brewster (1906) writes:

During exceptionally wet autumns snipe occasionally resort in large
numbers to the highly cultivated truck farms of Arlington and
Belmont. An interesting instance of this happened in September,
1875, when a flight, larger than any that I have known to occur in
the Cambridge region before or since, settled in some water-soaked
fields covered with crops of corn, potatoes, cabbages, etc., on the
Hittinger farm, Belmont. Learning of the presence of these birds
about a week after their arrival, I visited the place early the
next morning, but all save 10 or a dozen of them had departed,
owing no doubt, to the fact that there had been a hard frost during
the preceding night. The borings and other signs which they had
left convinced me, however, that the statement made to me at the
time by Mr. Jacob Hittinger, to the effect that he had started
_four or five hundred snipe_ there only the day before, was
probably not an exaggeration of the truth.

_Game._--The Wilson snipe, improperly called "jack snipe," but more properly called "English snipe," is one of our most popular game birds. Probably more snipe have been killed by sportsmen than any other game bird. It ranks ahead of all other shore birds and upland game birds except, possibly, the woodcock, ruffed grouse, and quail. When the startling cry of the snipe arouses the sportsman to instant action he realizes that he is up against a real gamey proposition. He must be a good shot indeed to make a creditable score against such quick erratic flyers. A tramp over the open meadows, brown, red, and golden in their autumn livery, with one or two good dogs quartering the ground in plain sight and with an occasional shot at a swiftly flying bird, is one of the delights of a crisp autumn day. The birds will lie closely on a calm day, but on a windy, blustering day they are restless and wild. It is well to hunt down wind as the birds usually rise against the wind and will fly towards and then quartering away from the shooter. When two men hunt along a narrow marsh, the man on the windward side will get most of the shooting. Snipe are usually shot on wet meadows or marshes, but that they are often found in other places is shown by the following quotations from Dwight W. Huntington (1903):

Audubon says the snipe is never found in the woods, but Forester
mentions finding it in wild, windy weather early in the season in
the skirts of moist woodlands under sheltered lee sides of young
plantations, among willow, alder, and brier brakes, and, in short,
wherever there is good, soft, springy feeding ground perfectly
sheltered and protected from the wind by trees and shrubbery.

Abbott says: "During the autumn I have found them along neglected
meadow ditches overhung by large willow trees, and again hidden in
the reeds along the banks of creeks. I have shot them repeatedly
in wet woodland meadows. I have often found snipe in bushy tracts
and among the swamp willows, but I have never seen them in the
forest, and believe they so rarely resort to the woods that it
would not be worth while to seek them there."

Snipe must have been exceedingly abundant 50 or 60 years ago, as the oft-quoted achievements of James J. Pringle (1899) will illustrate. He was not a market hunter but a gentleman (?) sportsman, who shot for the fun of it and gave the birds away to his friends. His excuses for excessive slaughter and his apologies for not killing more are interesting; he writes:

The birds being such great migrants, and only in the country for a
short time, I had no mercy on them and killed all I could, for a
snipe once missed might never be seen again.

I shot with only one gun at a time; had no loader, but loaded my
gun myself; had I shot with two guns and had a loader I would, of
course, have killed a great many more birds, but in those days and
in those parts it was impossible to get a man that could be
trusted to load.

During the 20 years from 1867 to 1887 he shot, on his favorite hunting grounds in Louisiana, 69,087 snipe and a total of 71,859 of all game birds; but his shooting fell off during the next 10 years for he increased his grand total of snipe to only 78,602 and of all game birds to only 82,101! His best day, undoubtedly a world's record, was December 11, 1877, when he shot in six hours 366 snipe and 8 other birds. On his best seven consecutive shooting days, alternate days in December, 1877, he killed 1,943 snipe and 25 other birds. During the winter of 1874-75 he killed 6,615 snipe. Captain Bogardus, the famous trap shot, killed, with the help of a friend, 340 snipe on one day in Illinois, and seldom got less than 150 on good days. With such excessive shooting all through the fall, winter, and spring, is it to be wondered at that the snipe have decreased in numbers?

_Winter._--As mentioned above snipe spend the winters in small numbers as far north as they can find unfrozen marshes and spring holes, but their main winter resorts are in the Southern States, the West Indies, and northern South America. They were formerly enormously abundant in the marshes and savannas of Florida and the other Gulf States, where they are still common in winter. C. J. Pennock tells me that they are still abundant all winter about St. Marks, Florida, his earliest and latest dates being September 12 and May 10. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says that, in South Carolina, the snipe "are most abundant during the months of February and March, and at that time multitudes frequent the rice plantations, provided the water is not too deep over the land." J. H. Bowles (1918) says that in Washington "cold weather does not seem to bother them much. On January 1, 1916, when all fresh-water marshes were frozen over, large numbers of them gathered on the Tacoma Flats." Mr. Skinner writes to me that in Yellowstone Park they are found in winter along creeks and rivers kept open by warm springs and on ground overflowed by warm water from the hot springs.

Aiken and Warren (1914) tell of the winter habits of the Wilson snipe, in El Paso County, Colorado, as follows:

Fountain Creek rarely freezes over entirely below its exit from the
mountains, and along its banks there are many places where water
that runs through the sand comes to the surface and forms springy
holes and marshy meadows which are warmer than surface water. These
become the winter feeding grounds for the snipe and one or a pair
often content themselves with a very small area of muck. But at
times of severe cold many of the smaller holes freeze and then the
snipe concentrate at places where a larger flow of water keeps the
holes open. On January 15, 1908, with 6 inches of snow on the
ground and below zero weather Aiken visited a small beaver pond on
the Skinner ranch 6 miles south of Colorado Springs. A bit of marsh
above the pond and a short stretch of ooze along the outlet below
remained open, and in this small area of one-fourth of an acre were
25 to 30 snipe. Some years ago a snipe was found running upon the
ice when everything in the vicinity was frozen solid. A few snipe
winter along banks of streams in the mountains.

That snipe know enough to protect themselves from storms may be
illustrated by narrating here one of Aiken's experiences in Utah
about 20 years ago. He was beating a snipe marsh near one edge of
which extended a narrow arroyo or gully in which were some trees
and bushes. The weather had been fair until without warning a
heavy snow storm set in. At once snipe began to rise wildly from
different parts of the marsh and one after another directed their
flight toward the same point in the arroyo and dove between its
banks. Upon investigation 8 or 10 snipe were found together in a
little cave in the side of the arroyo that was partly hidden by
bushes so that they were well protected from any storm. We
conclude this was not the first time the snipe had resorted to
this friendly shelter since they knew so well where to go.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--North America, Central America, the West Indies, and northern South America. Accidental in the Hawaiian Islands.

_Breeding range._--North to Alaska (Shumagin Islands, Bethel, St. Michael, Nome, Kowak River, Cape Smith, and Fort Yukon); Mackenzie (La Pierre House, Fort Anderson, Dease River, and Fort Smith); northeastern Manitoba (Fort Churchill); northern Ontario (Cape Henrietta Maria); Ungava (Fort George and Great Whale River); Labrador (Nain); and Newfoundland (Halls Bay, Grand Lake, and St. Johns). East to Labrador (Nain); Newfoundland (St. Johns); eastern Quebec (Magdalen Islands); Nova Scotia (Baddeck and Halifax); Maine (Calais and Waldo County); Massachusetts (Salem and Brookline); Connecticut (Portland); New York (Croton Falls); New Jersey (Newfoundland, Norristown, Trenton); and southeastern Pennsylvania (Mill Grove). South to southeastern Pennsylvania (Mill Grove); northwestern Pennsylvania (Meadville); northern Ohio (Fremont); northern Indiana (Miami, English Lake, and Cedar Lake); northern Illinois (Hinsdale and Winnebago); Iowa (Sabula, Grinnell, and Boone); Colorado (Estes Park, Barr, San Luis Lake, and Silverton); Utah (Parleys Park and Fairfield); southwestern Idaho (Nampa); and northern California (Sierra Valley and Shasta Valley). West to northern California (Shasta Valley); Oregon (Fort Klamath, Corvallis, and Salem); Washington (Yakima and Olympia); British Columbia (Chilliwack, Vancouver, and Metlakatla); and Alaska (Sitka, Kodiak, Nushagak, and Shumagin Islands).

Wilson's snipe also have been detected in summer north to Chimo, Ungava, Hopedale, Labrador, and Sandwich Bay, Quebec, and have been found lingering (probably non-breeders) south to Chloride, New Mexico, and Corpus Christi and San Angelo, Texas, while there is one breeding record for northern Los Angeles County, California (Mailliard, 1914).

_Winter range._--The Wilson snipe winters regularly north to Washington (Tacoma); British Columbia (Chilliwack and Okanagan Landing); Wyoming (Yellowstone Park); Colorado (El Paso County); southern Arizona (Tucson and Fort Huachuca); southern New Mexico (Rio Mimbres); Texas (Austin, Kerrville, and Bonham); Oklahoma (Caddo); Arkansas (Fayetteville and Stuttgart); Alabama (Coosada and Montgomery County); central North Carolina (Raleigh); and southeastern Virginia (Virginia Beach); eastern North Carolina (Pea Islands); Bermuda; South Carolina (Charleston); Georgia (Savannah and Blackbeard Island); Florida (Canaveral, Orlando, Kissimmee, and Royal Palm Hammock); Bahama Islands (New Providence, Watling Islands, and Great Inagua); Porto Rico (Guanica Lagoon); and the Lesser Antilles (Antigua, St. Vincent, Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad). South to the Lesser Antilles (Trinidad); northern Venezuela (Caracas); Brazil (Rio de Janeiro); Colombia (Medellin and Puerto Berrio); and Panama (Frijole and Chitra). West to Panama (Chitra and the Canal Zone); Costa Rica (San Jose); Nicaragua (Greytown and the Escondido River); Honduras (Comayagua and Manatee Lagoon); Guatemala (Duenas and Atitlan); Mexico (Guanajuato, Escuinapa, Mazatlan, San Jose del Cabo, and Colonia Diaz); California (Salton Sea, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Eureka); and Washington (Tacoma).

It also has been known to winter (where warm springs or other factors assure open water) north to Nevada (Paradise), Utah (Provo), Montana (Terry, Helena, and near Bozeman), Wyoming (Como and Cody), Colorado (Fountain Creek, Sweetwater Lake, Clear Creek near Denver, and near Julesburg), Nebraska (Holt, Sioux, Dawes, and Cherry Counties, and along the Missouri River), North Dakota (Fort Yates), Iowa (Hancock County), Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Michigan (Grand Rapids), southern Ontario (Barrie), Ohio (Granville), New York (Oneida, Onondaga Lake, Poughkeepsie, Ithaca, New York City, and Long Island), Connecticut (Portland and New Haven), Massachusetts (Jamaica Plain, near Boston, Peabody, Hancock, and Cape Cod), and Nova Scotia (Wolfville). It has been detected in Alaska at Wrangell, on November 11, 1920, and at Craig, on December 7, 1919.

_Spring migration._--Early dates of arrival in the spring are: District of Columbia, Washington, February 17; Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, March 7, Harrisburg, March 11, Carlisle, March 18, Berwyn, March 21, and Meadville, March 22; New Jersey, Fort Mott, March 16, and Pennsville, March 20; New York, Syracuse, February 26, Branchport, March 5, Orient Point, March 12, Buffalo, March 13, Brockport, March 18, Lansing, March 29, Oswego, April 1, and Ithaca, April 3; Connecticut, Portland, March 18, and New Haven, March 19; Massachusetts, Lynn, March 2, Newburyport, March 8, Boston, March 19, Somerset, March 21, and Salem, March 21; Vermont, Rutland, April 2; Maine, Farmington, April 6, and Lewiston, April 8; Quebec, Quebec, April 18, Montreal, April 19, and Godbout, May 5; New Brunswick, Scotch Lake, April 5, Petitcodiac, April 27, and Chatham, April 28; Nova Scotia, Halifax, April 5, Pictou, April 11, and Kentville, April 19; Kentucky, Bowling Green, February 24, Guthrie, February 25, and Russellville, February 26; Missouri, St. Louis, February 17, Old Orchard, February 20, Chillicothe, March 2, Jonesburg, March 11, and Kansas City, March 14; Illinois, Lebanon, February 11, Odin, March 6, Addison, March 10, Carlinville, March 11, Englewood, March 15, Morgan Park, March 17, Rockford, March 19, and Wheaton, March 26; Indiana, Bicknell, February 13, Greensburg, February 28, Frankfort, March 4, Greencastle, March 5, Bloomington, March 6, Brookville, March 7, Terre Haute, March 9, Vincennes, March 11, and Waterloo, March 12; Ohio, Granville, March 3, Cleveland, March 4, Columbus, March 8, Hudson, March 11, Sandusky, March 13, Oberlin, March 15, and New Bremen, March 18; Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 6, Vicksburg, March 18, Hillsdale, March 21, Kalamazoo, March 22, Battle Creek, March 24, Manchester, March 25, and Detroit, March 28; Ontario, Dunnville, March 24, Madoc, March 29, Queensboro, March 30, and Listowel, April 1; Iowa, Sabula, March 15, Boone, March 17, Grinnell, March 18, Keokuk, March 18, Coralville, March 19, Wall Lake, March 22, Cedar Rapids, March 23, and Sioux City, March 28; Wisconsin. Hillside, March 16, Madison, March 18, Elkhorn, March 19, Waukesha, March 20, Delavan, March 23, and Racine, March 24; Minnesota, Hutchinson, March 30, Minneapolis, March 29, Heron Lake, April 1, and Elk River, April 2; Oklahoma, Copan, March 8; Kansas, Emporia, March 14, Independence, March 19, and Wichita, March 19; Nebraska, Falls City, March 15, and Badger, March 25; South Dakota, Forestburg, March 12, Huron, March 15, and Sioux Falls, March 15; North Dakota, Fargo, April 15, Larimore, April 16, Lisbon, April 18, and Grafton, April 19; Manitoba, Greenridge, April 2, Dalton, April 8, Reaburn, April 9, Margaret, April 10, Aweme, April 14, and Shell River, April 16; Saskatchewan, Qu'Appelle, April 9, and Indian Head, April 20; Colorado, Denver, March 10, Boulder, March 19, and Sweetwater Lake, March 26; Wyoming, Yellowstone Park, March 16; Idaho, Neeley, March 24, Meridian, April 9, and Payette Lake, April 17; Montana, Missoula, March 4, Helena, March 12, and Columbia Falls, March 27; Alberta, Onoway, April 13, Carvel, April 15, and Edmonton, April 21; and Mackenzie, Fort Providence, May 2, and Fort Simpson, May 10.

Late dates of departure in the spring are: Costa Rica, February 16; Haiti, April 13; Florida, Tallahassee, April 10, Fruitland Park, April 10, Gainesville, April 15, and St. Marks, May 10; Georgia, Cumberland, April 14, and Savannah, April 15; South Carolina, Columbia, April 19, and Charleston, May 1; Chihuahua, Lake Palomas, April 8; Lower California, Colnett, April 8, and Salton River, April 19; and Texas, Kerrville, April 11, Bonham, April 30, and Austin, April 30.

_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival in the fall are: Texas, Tivoli, August 19; Lower California, San Jose del Cabo, August 28; Chihuahua, Janos River, September 5, and Chuechupa, September 19; Sonora, August 19; South Carolina, Frogmore, September 10; Georgia, Savannah, September 15; Florida, St. Marks, September 12; Lesser Antilles, St. Croix, September 24, and Barbadoes, October 11; Porto Rico, Guanica Lagoon, September 29; Costa Rica, October 9; and Panama, Canal Zone, October 7.

Late dates of departure in the fall are: Montana, Big Sandy, October 24, and Missoula, December 5; Idaho, Meridian, November 21, and Ketchum, December 20; Wyoming, Sundance, November 25, and Yellowstone Park, December 9; Utah, Provo, November 25; Colorado, Greeley, November 3, and Boulder, December 24; Manitoba, Killarney, October 24, Aweme, November 5, and Margaret, November 10; North Dakota, Chase Lake, October 21, Westhope, November 3, and Marstonmoor, November 3; South Dakota, Harrison, October 24, and Sioux Falls, November 22; Nebraska, Falls City, November 20, Crawford, December 7, and Broken Bow, December 12; Kansas, Independence, December 13; Minnesota, Elk River, November 1, Jackson, November 6, Parkers Prairie, November 7, Fort Snelling, November 13, and Heron Lake, November 14; Wisconsin, Unity, November 3, Madison, November 6, Elkhorn, November 8, Shiocton, November 13, North Freedom, November 14, and Milwaukee, November 15; Iowa, Davenport, November 2, Grinnell, November 4, Hillsboro, November 11, Indianola, November 15, Marshalltown, November 18, Wall Lake, November 28, and Keokuk, November 28; Ontario, Toronto, October 29, Longpoint, November 2, Windsor, November 9, Kingston, November 12, Ottawa, November 17, and Point Pelee, November 21; Michigan, Hillsdale, November 3, Ann Arbor, November 5, Manistee, November 7, Manchester, November 12, Detroit, November 15, and Vicksburg, December 30; Ohio, Scio, November 6, Salem, November 16, Oberlin, November 22, Youngstown, November 21, Sandusky, December 2, and Cleveland, December 29; Indiana, Bloomington, October 24, Bicknell, November 9, and Lyons, November 25; Illinois, Glen Ellyn, November 4, Canton, November 8, Fernwood, November 13, Lawrenceville, November 15, Elgin, November 17, and La Grange, November 23; Missouri, St. Louis, November 21, and St. Charles County, December 14; Nova Scotia, Pictou, October 24, and Halifax, December 3; New Brunswick, Scotch Lake, October 20, and St. John, November 5; Quebec, Quebec, November 5, and Montreal, November 13; Maine, Lewiston, November 5, Ellsworth, November 8, and Portland, November 15; Massachusetts, East Templeton, November 23, Salem, November 25, Lynn, December 20, and Belchertown, December 20; Rhode Island, Newport, December 3; Connecticut, New Haven, December 1, Portland, December 7, and Lakeville, December 28; New York, Geneva, November 3, West Winfield, November 13, Fair Haven Light, November 17, Branchport, November 24, Shelter Island, November 29, Madison County, December 10, and Orient Point, December 20; New Jersey, Bloomfield, November 1, Camden, November 7, Egg Island, November 8, and Pennsville, December 1; Pennsylvania, Berwyn, November 1, and Erie, November 21; and District of Columbia, Washington, December 22.

_Casual records._--A Wilson's snipe was killed at Naaleho Plantation, Kau, Hawaiian Islands, several years prior to 1900 and a second was reported as seen in the same locality in the fall of the same year (Henshaw, 1902). It also has been reported as taken in Great Britain, but the record is too doubtful to warrant serious consideration.

_Egg dates._--Magdalen Islands: 36 records, June 1 to 27; 18 records, June 3 to 14. Alberta: 39 records, May 16 to July; 20 records, May 28 to June 10. Utah: 48 records, May 8 to July 24; 24 records, May 12 to June 2.

CAPELLA MEDIA (Latham)

GREAT SNIPE

_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_

HABITS

The claim of this species to a place on the American list rests on a specimen obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada many years ago and now in the collection of the British Museum. Its breeding home is in Northern Europe and Asia, but on migration and during the winter months it has been met with in the British Isles, throughout southern Europe and Africa south to the Cape Province, as well as southern Asia from India westward. Unlike the common snipe, it frequently occurs singly and is by no means confined to marshy spots, but may be met with on rough pastures, moorlands, and fields. To this characteristic it owes its name of "solitary snipe."

_Spring._--On the northward migration it is of very rare occurrence in the British Isles, and has only been recorded on a few occasions in Morocco, but of regular occurrence in south Spain; but is not uncommon on passage in Malta in April and May and occurs in small numbers in Italy in April and May and in Corfu and Epirus in March, also migrating in greater numbers along the west coast of the Black Sea. Probably the majority of the birds which visit South Africa make their way northward along the east side of the Continent. The northerly movement begins in Natal in January or February, so that it extends over a period of four or five months.

_Courtship._--Observations on the courtship of this species are not numerous, for it is nocturnal in its habits and, except during the mating season, decidedly unsociable. In western Europe there has been a great diminution of the breeding stock of late years. Jutland, which was at one time a well-known breeding place, has long been entirely deserted, and it is necessary to visit the morasses of Scandinavia and Esthonia or Finland and Russia before one can make the acquaintance of this species in any numbers on its nesting ground. Unlike the common and jack snipe, there are no aerial evolutions to call attention to the display, but the whole is conducted on the ground between sunset and sunrise; and as the notes of the birds are not loud, it may well be imagined that it may readily be overlooked. The number of birds which attend at the "Spil," as it is called in Norway, or "Tok" (Russian), varies from eight to a dozen pairs to twenty or more in districts where the birds are comparatively common. Here late in May the males may be heard uttering low warbling notes, producing also sounds which have been compared to those made by running the nail along the teeth of a comb, and snapping their bills together, evidently in defiance. The display consists in expanding the tail like a fan and turning it over toward the back, the white outer feathers standing out conspicuously, with drooping wings and depressed and retracted head. In this attitude they perform a kind of dance, slowly at first, but becoming more and more rapid, and generally culminating in a series of fights between the rivals.

R. Collett, who furnished a long and detailed description of the procedure at one of these "leks" to Dresser (1871), is of opinion that the fighting is not of a serious character and consists chiefly of feeble slashes with the wings, but the Russian naturalist Alphéraky, a translation of whose interesting paper on the subject appeared in the Field for 1906 (p. 1075) with an illustration of the display, describes the ground as often strewn with feathers after these encounters. In the more northern latitudes there is of course little darkness, but there is a consensus of opinion that the display dies down about midnight and commences again as it becomes lighter. Alphéraky ascribes this to the arrival of the females on the scene. Clear and bright nights are most favorable for this performance, which seems to have some points of resemblance to that of the ruff and some to that of the black grouse (_Lyrurus tetrix_), but a series of observations are required before we can reconcile the discrepancies and fill up the gaps in the descriptions. According to Collett there is a period in the display when the bird is in a kind of ecstasy and produces a series of varied notes beginning with a whistle or two, followed by a snapping noise with five or six notes in rapid succession, then a hissing sound, followed by a rolling _sbirrrr_, which becomes deeper as uttered. A number of birds displaying at the same time produces a low continuous chorus of varied sounds. This is the more remarkable as the great snipe is at other seasons a particularly silent bird, and indeed is rarely heard to utter a sound of any kind, usually rising in silence.

_Nesting._--The sites vary according to locality. In Jutland they were usually on grassy flats, but in Scandinavia generally on broken ground with birch scrub here and there. Here the female scratches a hollow among the moss and deposits her four handsome eggs. F. and P. Godman (1861), who found several nests in the Bodö district, Norway, discovered one which had an incomplete set of two eggs. On returning two days later to the spot nothing was visible but some disarranged bits of moss. Alarmed by their approach the bird flew off, leaving a hole in the moss through which the eggs were visible. On a third visit the bird was found incubating the two eggs, which were on the point of hatching, and was covered with fragments of moss which she had evidently torn up and thrown over herself. None of the other nests found were concealed in any way.

_Eggs._--These are normally four in number, though occasionally three may be met with. They are pyriform in shape with a pale stone colored ground and boldly spotted and blotched with dark umber, shading into black and numerous ashy gray shell markings. The markings are usually denser and more concentrated at the big end, often with a tendency to a zone. The measurements of 100 eggs from northern Europe (69 by the writer, 19 by Goebel, and 12 by Rey) average 45.3 by 31.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =48.8= by 31.9, 46.2 by =33.3=, =41.2= by 31.7, and 46.5 by =29.5= millimeters. Rey (1905) gives the average weight as 1.107 g. and Goebel as 1.035 g.

_Young._--As to the share of the sexes in incubation our information is scanty; but, such as it is, goes to prove that it is conducted by the female alone. Naumann (1887) gives the period as 17 to 18 days and states that as soon as the young are dried they leave the nest and take to the long grass which effectually conceals them.

_Plumages._--The reader is referred to A Practical Handbook of British Birds, edited by H. F. Witherby (1920), where a complete account of the plumages and molts of this species is given.

_Food._--Naumann (1887) records small worms, insect larvae, small snails, coleoptera, water insects, and larvae of Phryganeidae. Yarrell (1871) includes larvae of insects, especially Tipulidae, and small slugs as well as worms. These last seem to form the staple diet.

_Behavior._--The family parties soon break up and from late autumn to its arrival on the breeding grounds it is more likely to be met with singly than in company. Its flight is not so rapid as that of the common snipe, but slower and more direct, while instead of uttering the well known _scape_, it either rises in silence or merely utters a guttural croaking note.

_Fall._--More frequently met with in the British Isles on the autumn migration from the end of July to mid-November than in spring, but probably frequently overlooked. By the beginning of August the young are full grown normally, and gradually make their way from the high north in Norway southward, the majority of migrants taking an easterly course and only a small proportion moving south-westward to the winter quarters.

DISTRIBUTION

_Breeding range._--Norway, north to Tromsö, Sweden, to latitude 65° N., formerly in Denmark but now extinct, as also in Schleswig. It is said to have bred formerly in Holland and still does so in East Prussia and eastward to Estonia, Finland, Russia, according to Buturlin, up to latitude 63° near the Great Lakes, 65-1/2° on the White Sea, and 67-1/2° in the Petchora, while southward it is said to breed in Bessarabia (Rumania) and in the Governments of Kieff, Poltava, Kharkoff, and Voronsh, and to 51-1/2° N. in the Urals as well as in the Caucasus. In Asia it breeds near Omsk, in the Altai and the tributaries of the Ob, but not beyond the Yenesei or in East Siberia.

_Winter range._--Cape Province, Natal, Transvaal (September to March), Damara Land, Bechuana Land, Portuguese East Africa, Southwest Africa, Persia, Turkestan, and India (once).

_Migration._--River Zambesi, Egypt (not uncommon), Alexandria, etc., Algeria, Greece (April 23, May 7), Cyprus, Corfu (March), Malta (March 30), Naples, Corsica (March 25), Valencia (October 9), Montenegro (April 15, 24), Asia Minor (May 9, Sept. 21), Fao, Persian Gulf, Iraq (April, Aug., Sept.).

_Egg dates._--Formerly in Denmark from May 6 to June 8 (12 records), occasionally in July; in Scandinavia from end of May to middle of July (10 records, June 13 to July 15).

LYMNOCRYPTES MINIMUS (Brünnich)

JACK SNIPE

_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_

HABITS

Sometime during the spring of 1919, probably in April, a specimen of this snipe was taken by a native on St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, and presented to G. Dallas Hanna. The bird is now in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, and constitutes the only record for North America. It is, however, a widely distributed species, breeding not only in Arctic Europe, but also across the greater part of northern Asia, and wintering south to north Africa and southern Asia.

_Courtship._--Of the courtship actions in the strict sense of the words we have practically no observations, as this species has rarely been kept in captivity and then singly and for short periods. The nuptial flight is, however, more conspicuous and was described in the oft-quoted letter of John Wolley, written from Muoniovara on November 27th, 1853, to W. C. Hewitson (1856), and published in the third edition of "Coloured Illustrations of the Eggs of British Birds" by that writer. To Wolley belongs the credit of being the first to discover and bring to the knowledge of naturalists the eggs of this species, for the eggs previously ascribed to this species from localities much farther south were not by any means satisfactorily authenticated. Wolley had been for some time at his headquarters on the borders of Sweden and what is now Finland, when, on June 17th, 1853, while working the great marsh at Muonioniska, he first heard the jack snipe, though as he states: