FAMILY SCOLOPACIDAE 4II 



Dowitchers appear as migrants from the north, with two of the 

 three races of the species griseiis recorded to date. The third, Limno- 

 dromus grisens caurinus, that nests in Alaska, differs from the other 

 two in darker gray color of the dorsal surface. Its range in south- 

 ward migration at present is not known with certainty. 



Some of the published records are of uncertain allocation as un- 

 derstanding of the characters of the races of griseiis and of the dif- 

 ferences that separate griseus and scolopaceus until recently has been 

 confused. The characters in general are of such a nature that sight 

 identifications are seldom practicable except as to placement in the 

 genus. The earliest report of these birds is that of Lawrence (Ann. 

 Lye. Nat. Hist., New York, vol. 7, 1862, p. 479) who Usts a dowitcher, 

 under the specific name griseus, as one of the birds received from 

 McLeannan, with no explanatory statement. I have not been able to 

 locate a specimen on which this report might have been based. Aldrich 

 (Scient. Publ. Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 7, 1937, p. 58) saw 

 several dowitchers on the mud flats of Monti jo Bay, Veraguas, March 

 29, 1932. Eisenmann (Wilson Bull., vol. 63, 1951, p. 182) recorded 

 4 seen near Panama Viejo, June 24, 1951 (which is the only record 

 to date for the months of northern summer). There have been other 

 sight records of uncertain reference. 



There is also a report of one banded in Massachusetts on August 

 24, 1935, taken on the Rio Chagres, on September 12, less than a 

 month later. 



LIMNODROMUS GRISEUS GRISEUS (Gmelin) 



Scolopax griseus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 658. (Long Island, 

 New York.) 



Characters. — Darker gray above; throat only slightly whiter than 

 f oreneck and breast. 



Measurements (New England specimens, from Pitelka, Univ. Cali- 

 fornia Publ. Zo51., vol. 50, 1950, p. 38).— Males, wing 133-145 

 (138.8), culmen 51.2-60.4 (55.1), tarsus 31.5-35.7 (33.7) mm. 



Females, wing 136-144 (140.4), culmen 56.4-66.3 (58.8), tarsus 

 31.3-37.3 (34.3) mm. 



Migrant from the north. Local in occurrence and not common; 

 found along the coasts on sandy beaches and mudflats, where it is 

 recorded from September to March ; a few nonbreeding birds appear 

 to remain through the period of northern summer. 



