38 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



"Morning and evening and throughout cloudy days in the 

 early part of the breeding season the male has a curious habit 

 of mounting high overhead, then descending obliquely for some 

 distance, and as it turns upwards strikes rapidly with its wings, 

 producing a loud whistling sound with each stroke. This ma- 

 noeuvre is repeated again and again, and appears to be per- 

 formed for the same purpose as is the "booming" of the night 

 hawk. Besides this sound the Wilson's Snipe has a peculiar, 

 sharp cry during the season, which is uttered when the bird is 

 disturbed. I first became acquainted with the note in May, 1876, 

 when, while walking along a marshy strip of land, I was sur- 

 prised to hear a loud ka-ka-kdr-ka-ka, uttered with great force 

 and in a rather loud, harsh tone. Turning quickly I was still 

 more astonished to find the author to be one of these birds. It 

 was flying restlessly from post to post along a fence and showed 

 the greatest uneasiness at my presence, the notes being repeated 

 at short intervals. Although its nest was probably near, I could 

 not discover it." 



Subfamily TRIXsTGINiE. 



Chab. Ears situated decidedly posterior to the eyes; tip of upper mandible thin, with 

 cutting edges far apart; plumage very different in winter and summer, and young different 

 in color from adult. 



Genus MACRORHAMPHUS Leach. 



Macrorhamphus Leach, Cat. Brit. Birds, 1816, 31. Type, Scolopax grisea Gmel. 



Char. General appearance of Gallinago. Tarsi longer than middle toe ; a short web be- 

 tween the base of outer and middle toes. Plumage very different in winter and summer; 

 young different from the adult. 



The membrane at the base of the toes will at once distinguish this genus from Gallinago, 

 though there are other characters involved. 



The two North American species of this genus* are character- 

 ized as follows: 



Common Characters. About the size of Gallinago delicata, or larger. Bill long, com- 

 pressed, flattened and expanded toward the end, where (in dried specimens) punctulated 

 and corrugated. Shaft of first primary strong, pure white. Axillars, tail-coverts, and lower 

 part of rump, white, barred, or transversely spotted, with slate-color; upper part of rump 

 white, usually immaculate. Tail slaty or dusky, barred with white (or, in summer adult, 

 with pale cinnamon on the middle feathers). Adult in summer: Head, neck, and lower 

 parts light cinnamon (the abdomen sometimes whitish), the foreneck and sides of breast 

 speckled, the sides and crissum barred or speckled with dusky. Upper parts mixed black, 

 light cinnamon, and white, the former prevailing. Adult in ivinter: Belly and anal region 

 white, usually unspotted; rest of the plumage nearly uniform ash-gray, somewhat inter- 



*A third species, M. semipalmatus Bi.yth, occurs in eastern and southern Asia. It is 

 much larger than its American relatives, and belongs to the subgenus Pseud oscolopax 



BLTTH. 



