WILSON'S SNIPE. 97 call, rapidly repeated as it flies over the water. After ffiiiuiiu'- headway it sails for some distance, when its wide- stretched wings show a white l)ar or band. The Spotted Sandpiper arrives from the Sonth late in April and remains until October. It nests in the lat- ter half of May, laying four pear-shaped eggs, in color white or buff, tluckly spotted and speckled with choco- late, chiefly at the larger end. The young, like those of all Snipe, are born with a covering of downy feathers, and can run as soon as dry. The egg is, therefore, large in proportion to the size of the bird, and measures 1-25 by •95 inches. (See Fig. 24rt.) Unlike the two preceding birds, "Wilson's or the English Snipe is not a summer resident in the Middle Wilson's Snipe States, but as a rule nests from north- Gaiiinago ddu-ata. cm New England, northward, though Plate IX. there are records of its breeding as far south as Connecticut and Pennsylvania. It migrates northward in March and April, and the return journey occurs during September and October. It is not a true shore bird, but frequents fresh-water marshes and mead- ows, and in rainy Apnl weather, when the lowlands be- come more or less flooded, it may be found in places where few persons would think of looking for Snipe. Like the Woodcock, Wilson's Snipe probes the mud for food, and when on the ground among the grasses its colors and pattern of coloration so closely resemble its surroundings that it is almost invisible. When flushed, it utters a startled scaip, and darts quickly into the air, flying at first in so erratic a manner that it has become famous among sportsmen as a diffi- cult mark. Like the Nighthawk, Wilson's Snipe sometimes dives earthward from high in the air, making as he falls a sound which Minot compares to that produced by throw- 15
