species to so zealous and successful a student of nature. I have, however,
been surprised that he should not have mentioned the difference in
the notes of the two species, which in fact is as great as that between those
of the American Crow and the Carrion Crow of Europe. A decided
difference of this kind I am always disposed to consider as satisfactory in
the case of nearly allied species. While glancing over some of the numberless
compilations that are pouring their muddy waters into the great
stream of human knowledge, I was somewhat surprised to find in one of
them an account of the American Snipe, in which it is stated that it is a
winter visitant in the northern States, and will most probably breed farther
south, without leaving the country!
The American Snipe is easily caught in snares placed on the spots of
mud which it is wont to probe, and a good number are thus obtained by
the farmers1 children, especially during very cold weather, when, the birds
having become emaciated from want of a good supply of food, they resort
to the small warm springs of our meadows, and there remain until
the return of milder weather. At such times and places, I have heard
this bird utter various curious notes, which I am unable to describe, putting
themselves into strange postures all the while, jerking their tails upwards,
downwards, and sideways, for several seconds at a time, while the
head and neck were moved backwards and forwards, as if the bird had
been in a fit. I never* saw this during warm weather, and am unable to
account for it.
It arrives in Pennsylvania from the south about the middle of March,
earlier or later according to the nature of the season, a month later in
Maine, and about a week or ten days after in Nova Scotia. We neither
saw nor heard of any in Newfoundland or Labrador, but they are abundant
in the interior of the northern parts of the Canadas.
The young acquire the full plumage of the adult the first year after their
birth, when no essential difference is perceptible between the sexes, the
female being merely somewhat larger than the male. My friend THOMAS
MACCULLOCH, who has not unfrequently found this bird breeding, and
from whom I have received many of its eggs, was unable to say whether
both sexes incubate, although this is very probable, as the male is often
seen with or near the female while she is sitting, excepting towards evening
or in the early part of the morning, when he mounts into the air, as if for
the purpose of congratulating her by his curious song. It often happens
that before these birds depart in spring, many are already mated. The
birds are then met with in meadows or on low grounds, and, by being on
the spot before sunrise, you may see both mount high in the air in a spiral
manner, now with continuous beats of the wings, now in short sailings,
until more than a hundred yards high, when they whirl round each other
with extreme velocity, and dance as it were to their own music; for at this
juncture, and during the space of five or six minutes, you hear rolling
notes mingling together, each more or less distinct, perhaps according to
the state of the atmosphere. The sounds produced are extremely pleasing,
though they fall faintly on the ear. I know not how to describe
them, but I am well assured that they are not produced simply by the
beatings of the wings, as at this time the wings are not flapped, but are
used in sailing swiftly in a circle not many feet in diameter. A person
might cause a sound somewhat similar by blowing rapidly and alternately
from one end to another, across a set of small pipes consisting of two or three
modulations. This performance is kept up until incubation terminates,
but I never observed it at any other period. Our Woodcock produces a
somewhat similar sound at the same season, and also at times on fine autumnal
evenings, as I shall mention more particularly when describing
that bird.
In confinement, our Common Snipe feeds freely on moistened Indian
corn meal, mixed with some insects, but rarely becomes as gentle as the
Woodcock in similar circumstances. When approached, it droops its
wings and runs round its place of confinement, even should it be a small
room, keeping its tail spread out on the side next you. If the bird is
confined in a small space in front of you, it alternately throws the tail upwards,
and spreads it in the manner mentioned at every successive turn to
and from each corner. Sometimes it emits a lisping sound, but is more
usually silent.
SCOLOPAX WILSONII, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 'd'AO
Swains, and Richards. Fauna-Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 4 0 1 .
SNIPE, SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vi. p. 1 8 . pL 4 7 . fig. 1.
WILSON'S SNIPE, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 1 8 5 .
Adult Male. Plate CCXLIII. Fig. 1.
Bill twice as long as the head, subulate, straight, compressed for more
than half its length, depressed towards the end. Upper mandible with
the dorsal line straight, the ridge for a short space at the base flattish,
ihen convex, towards the end flattened, the sides with a narrow groove