132 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



by the Game Act, so that the short visit they pay us in April must 

 really be to them a time of enjoyment. In the fall it is quite differ- 

 ent, for every nominal sportsman wants to go snipe shooting, and 

 the birds are so frequently fired at, they are kept continually on 

 the move from the time of their arrival till they take their final 

 departure for the season. 



In former years, the breeding ground of the Snipe was a matter of 

 speculation. It is now known to breed along the northern border 

 of the northern tier of States, and is also common during the summer 

 season in suitable places throughout Manitoba and the North- West. 



Here again, Nelson's report from Alaska is quite interesting. He 

 says : " This is a rather uncommon but widely spread species in 

 Alaska along the mainland shore of Behring Sea. I found it both at 

 St. Michael's and on the lower Yukon in small numbers, making its 

 presence known in spring-time by its peculiar whistling noise as it 

 flew high overhead. It nests wherever found in the north, and is a 

 rather common species along the entire course of the Yukon, extend- 

 ing thence north to within the Arctic Circle, but its limit in this 

 direction is not definitely known. 



" It was found at Sitka and Kadiak by the Western Union Tele- 

 graph explorers, but is not known on any of the Behring Sea 

 islands nor on the coast of Siberia, but it is to be looked for from 

 the latter region, at least." 



GENUS MACRORHAMPHUS LEACH. 

 MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS (GMEL.). 



94. Dowitcher. (231) 



Tail and its coverts, at all seasons, conspicuously barred with black and 

 white (or tawny), lining of the wings and axillars the same; quills, dusky; shaft 

 of first primary, and tips of the secondaries, except long inner ones, white ; bill 

 and feet, greenish-black. In summer, brownish -\>lack above, variegated with 

 bay ; below, brownish -red, variegated with dusky ; a tawny superciliary stripe, 

 and a dark one from the bill to the eye. In winter, plain gray above, and on 

 the breast, with few or no traces of black and bay ; the belly, line over eye and 

 under eyelid, white. Length, 10-11; wing, o-5i; tail, 2^; bill, about 2i; 

 tarsus, 1|; middle toe and claw, 1|. 



HAB. Atlantic coast of North America, breeding far north. 



Nest, a hollow near the borders of marshy lakes or ponds, lined with a few 

 leaves and grass. 



Eggs, three or four ; identical in appearance with those of the common snipe. 



