The Condor/Volume 1/Number 2/Nesting of the Wilson's Snipe in Utah

638143The Condor, Volume 1, Issue 2 — Nesting of the Wilson's Snipe in Utah
By H. C. Johnson

Nesting of the Wilson's Snipe in Utah

ACCORDING to most, if not all the authorities, this species nests in the north, but I have found them breeding in this locality in abundance and have taken their eggs for several years. They arrive early in April, as soon as the snow is off the shallow ponds and low lands, and their whistle becomes a familiar sound both during the day and in the evening. Nest building commences soon after they arrive and nests have been found from April 29 to as late as July 11.

The nests are invariably placed within a few inches of the water, either stagnant, or by the side of irrigating ditches or waste streams. The nest is composed of dry wire grass loosely laid into a shallow platform, though occasionally raised two or three inches above the surface of the ground. Occasionally they select for a site the top of a hummock, but usually the nest is flat on the ground and extremely difficult to find as the eggs and nest have the general appearance of the surrounding dead grass and rushes.

The eggs exhibit the greatest possible variation in markings and colors, a well selected series showing about the handsomest variation of any I have seen, unless it be those of the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Typical specimens are of a dull yellow background, shaded and overlaid with bold heavy blackish and brown markings. These markings are usually long in proportion to their width and form a "corkscrew" appearance on the shell, extending from the pointed end of the egg in an oblique right direction, and seldom straight toward the larger end. In some specimens the ground color is a bright yellowish shade in which case the markings are usually very bold and distinct; in others the markings are highly colored running through all the shades from rich sienna to deep brown and blackish. The bird is never shot here for game and breeds without molestation.H. C. Johnson, American Fork, Utah, Jan. 27, '99.