398 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. IX. 



outer web of first primary, white; greater wing coverts, brownish 

 or dusky, with white tips; axillars and under surface of wings, barred 

 with black; upper tail coverts, tawny brown, barred with black; 

 tail feathers, chestnut brown, with subterminal black bar; tips, white, 

 and feathers marked with black at the base; under parts, white; 

 breast and throat, speckled and lined with brown; sides of the body, 

 brownish, barred with dull black. 



Length, 11; wing, 5; tail, 2.20; tarsus, 1.25; bill, 2.40 to 2.60. 



This species is abundant in Illinois and Wisconsin during the 

 migrations, and some remain to breed in both states, but more com- 

 monly in Wisconsin than in Illinois. 



The nest is on the ground. The eggs are usually four, grayish 

 or brownish olive, heavily blotched with chocolate brown mostly at 

 the larger end. They measure 1.65 x 1.20 inches. 



An interesting account of the breeding of this species in Illinois 

 and Indiana is given by Mr. Ruthven Deane (The Auk, Vol. XVI, 

 1899, p. 270). He states that it must breed more commonly in Illi- 

 nois and Indiana than is generally supposed, as he found them very 

 numerous at English Lake, Indiana, in the latter part of July and 

 early in August and refers to numbers of specimens having been taken 

 near Davis Station, Ind., and near Waukegan, 111. 



In some localities in the Southern States, during the winter months, 

 thousands of these birds are killed on the marshes where they collect 

 on some especially good feeding ground. When first disturbed they 

 utter a peculiar cheep as they rise from the ground, often repeated 

 during their flight, which is very irregular, making them one of the 

 most difificult birds to shoot. 



Genus MACRORHAMPHUS Forster. 



109. Macrorhamphus griseus (Gmel.). 

 DowiTCHER. Red-breasted Snipe. 



Distr.: Eastern North iVmerica, breeding far north; south to the 

 West Indies and Brazil, in winter. 



Adult in summer: A small web between the outer and middle 

 toes; upper parts, blackish; feathers, edged with tawny brown; top 

 of head, blackish, mottled with tawny brown; under parts, red brown, 

 banded on the sides; throat and breast only, slightly spotted, entirely 

 without spots in some plumages; tail and upper tail coverts, barred 

 with black; bill, dark olive. 



Adult in ivintcr: Upper parts, grayish, the feathers showing 



