BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 



253 



DOW^ITCHER (Macrorhamphus griseus griscm). 

 Common or local names: Brown-back; Driver; Robin-snipe; Red-breasted Snipe. 



Fall. 



Spring. 



Length. — 10 to 11 inches; bill 2.05 to -2.55. 



Adult Male in Spring. — Upper parts mixed black and buffy or cinnamon; 

 lower back, rump and tail white; rump spotted and tail barred with 

 black and light tan or pale buff; general tone of closed wing brownish 

 gray, in contrast to reddish tone of body, blackening toward tip; two 

 whitish wing bands; sides of head and under parts reddish buff or pale 

 cinnamon, finely marked and sparsely spotted (and barred on flanks) 

 with black, becoming white on belly; bill greenish black; legs and feet 

 greenish brown; iris very dark. 

 Adult Male in Fall. — Head and upper back feathers slate gray, with dark 

 centers and lighter edges; wings dark gray, spotted and marked with 

 dusky and whitish; sides of head, throat and breast whitish: a dusky 

 line from bill through eye; sides of breast clouded with brownish 

 gray, with which the neck and head are more or less mottled; below 

 whitL, spotted behind with black; rump and tail white spotted with 

 black. 

 Adult Female. — Paler and lighter. 

 Young. ^Rinder parts spotted above and lielow; similar to winter adult 



above; below washed with buff and indistinctly speckled with dusky. 

 Field Marks. — Size of Wilson's Snipe, but its dark back and the whitish 

 appearance of its lower back, rump and tail distinguish it. The rump 

 does not appear so white in flight as that of the Yellow-legs. Frequents 

 sand bars and mud flats. 

 j^f)tes. — A shrill quivering whistle, similar to that of the Yellow-legs, some- 

 thing like 'te-te-te. te-te-te- (Nuttall). 

 5,,^,,j„._ Rather uncommon fall migrant; rare in spring, late May and 

 early June; early July to late September. 



