SHOKE HIKD8 OF NORTH AMERICA. 41 



GENUS MACRORHAMPHUS LEACH. 



MACRORHAflPHUS QRISEUS (GmeL). 

 Dowitcher. Red=breasted Snipe. Brown Back. 



Adult i xttinmer : A small web between the outer and middle toes; upper parts, blackish; 



feathers edged with 

 tawny browu; 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 cov= 

 Macrorhaniphus K rleu8. erts> barred with black . bill) dark olive . 



Adult in winter: Upper parts, grayish, the feathers showing faint edges of buffon the back; 

 chin and superciliary stripe dull grayish white ; breast, gray, showing slight traces of tawny 

 (often entirely absent) ; rest of under parts, dirty white, mottled on the crissum ; tail, banded 

 dark browu or black and white. 



Length, 10.30; wing, 5.70; tarsus, 1.30; bill, 2.20 to 2.50. 



The Bed-breasted Snipe, or Dowitcher, ranges from the Arctic Circle, where 

 it breeds, to South America, being common in the United States during the 

 migrations. It is a well-known bird to sportsmen, and its long, snipe-like bill 

 will always distinguish it from other species of shore birds, except the Wilson's 

 Snipe, from which it may be known at a glance by the small web between the 

 outer and middle toes, and by its differently marked tail and tail coverts. 

 It occurs in flocks, and where it has not been persecuted by gunners, is very 

 tame and unsuspicious, and comes readily to decoys. The eggs are dull butt' 

 or pale olive speckled with dark brown. 



MACRORHAMPHUS SCOLOPACEUS Say. 

 Long-billed Dowitcher. Western Red=breasted Snipe. 



Resembles the preceding species, but the bill is longer, and in breeding plumage, the sides 

 of the body are more distinctly barred with black ; the throat and breast more rufous, and the 

 general plumage more highly colored. 



In winter the principal difference is one of size. 



Length, 11 ; wing, 6.05 ; tarsus, 1.55; bill, 2.20 to 2.60. 



This species, which is closely allied to the eastern bird, in breeding plum- 

 age, may be distinguished from it by its longer bill, barred sides, and richer 



