230 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



on borders of marshy lakes and ponds ; a loose struc- 

 ture of grasses and leaves. Eggs: 4, greenish-olive to 

 light clay-color, spotted with dark brown. 



Distribution. — Eastern North and South America ; 

 breeding range unknown, but probably northern Un- 



gava ; winters from Florida and the West Indies south 

 to northern Brazil; in migration regularly on the 

 Atlantic coast, and occasionally in Illinois. Indiana, and 

 Ontario ; accidental in Greenland, Bermuda. Great 

 Britain, and France. 



The Dovvitcher's regular food includes several 

 species of destructive grasshoppers, diving 

 beetles which do much damage in fish hatcheries 

 besides destroying insects which are the natural 

 food of fishes, and various marine worms which 

 prey upon oysters. Its usefulness to man, there- 

 fore, is very considerable. 



It is a bird of the open meadows, feeding along 

 marshy shores and on sand bars bared by the 

 receding tide, in flocks, and often in the company 

 of other waders. This gregarious instinct, com- 

 bined with its gentleness, is a fatal trait, and 

 enables gunners to slaughter them unmercifully 

 and sometimes to exterminate every individual in 

 a " bunch." To turn a 12-gauge " cannoti " loose 

 among these unsuspicious birds, winnowing in 

 over the decoys with friendly notes of greeting, 

 is about as sportmanslike as shooting into a bunch 

 of chickens. To catch them with a camera 

 requires skill and patience, and herein lies the 

 hope for future existence of our disappearing 



wild life — substitution of the lens for the 



gun! 



The call of the Dowitcher is a rather low- 

 pitched series of whistles : — phcii-pheit-pheu- 

 phcu-phcti, without the diminuendo of the Yel- 

 low-leg's notes. 



The Long-billed Dowitcher (Macrorhamphus 

 griscus scolopaccits) differs from the common 

 Dowitcher in its larger size, richer coloration, 

 and longer bill. But the two can only be un- 

 erringly separated by a close comparison with 

 the specimens in the hand. The Long-billed 

 Dowitcher is known locally as the Greater Long- 

 beak, the Greater Gray-back, and the Red- 

 bellied Snipe. It is found in western North 

 America and South America ; it is " supposed to 

 be rare or casual on the Atlantic coast and de- 

 clared to be the only representative of the genus 

 in the west — which would be important if it 

 were a fact. Nesting and habits same as stock 

 form." (Coues.) 



STILT SANDPIPER 



Micropalama himantopus (Bonaparte) 



A. O. U. Number 233 See Color Plates Z3^ 34 



Other Names. — Long-legged Sandpiper ; Frost 

 Snipe ; Mongrel ; Bastard Yellow-legs. 



General Description. — Length. 9 inches. Upper 

 parts, in summer, mottled with blackish-brown, white, 

 chestnut, and dusky ; in winter, ashy-gray. Under parts, 

 whitish barred with dark. Legs long and slender; toes 

 webbed at base : bill long, slender, and slightly curved. 



Color. — In Summer: Forehead, crown, a line from 

 gape through eye broadening on side of head, rufous: 

 center of crown, dusky ; a whitish streak from bill 

 over and back of eye; upper parts, blackish-brown, 

 each feather edged and tipped with white or chestnut ; 

 upper tail-coverts, barred with white and dusky ; tail, 

 mottled white and ash ; wing-coverts, grayish, the 

 feathers edged with lighter ; primaries and secondaries, 

 grayish-brown, latter edged with white ; under parts 

 from throat, whitish, sometimes with a pale rufous 

 wash, spotted on breast, barred everywhere below with 

 brownish: bill, dusky-greenish, darkening at tip; legs, 

 dusky yellowish-green : iris, brown with a white cres- 

 cent below. In Winter: Above, ashy-gray, crown nar- 



rowly streaked and feathers of back more broadly edged 

 with lighter; wing-coverts, brownish-ash, the feathers 

 lighter-edged; primaries and secondaries, dusky, the 

 latter edged with whitish ; a dusky streak from bill 

 through and behind eye ; under parts from chin, white, 

 narrowly and thinly barred with dusky; bill, dusky; 

 legs, dull brownish-yellow ; iris, brown with a white 

 crescent below. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A depression in the ground 

 lined with a few leaves and grass. Eggs ; 3 or 4, 

 grayish-wliite or light drab, boldly marked with spots of 

 chestnut, brown, and lavender, more numerous at the 

 large end. 



Distribution. — North and South America; breeds 

 near the coast of Mackenzie and probably south to 

 central Keewatin ; winters in South America south to 

 Uruguay and Chile ; casual in winter in southern Texas 

 and Mexico; in migration occurs in western Missis- 

 sippi valley. West Indies, and Central America : less 

 common on the Atlantic coast, and casual in British 

 Columbia, Newfoundland, and Bermuda. 



