BfRDS OF KANSAS. 161 



in the thin mud and soft earth for worms, larvae and the tender 

 roots of plants; it also readily picks up insects or anything eat- 

 able to its taste in sight. Its movements on the ground are 

 easy, and, while feeding, its tail is partially erect and head down- 

 ward, the bill just clearing the ground. 



In courtship, the male struts with drooping wings and wide- 

 spread tail around his mate, in a most captivating manner, often 

 at such times rising spiral-like with quickly-beating wings high 

 in air, dropping back in a wavy, graceful circle, uttering at the 

 same time his jarring, cackling love note, which, with the vibra- 

 tion of the wings upon the air, makes a rather pleasing sound. 



Their flight is swift and, on the start, in a zigzag and irregu- 

 lar manner. It is a most difficult bird to shoot; it requires a 

 quick eye and a snap shot to bag four out of five. I have al- 

 ways had the best success when the birds are suddenly flushed, 

 in shooting the instant its startled "Scaipe" reaches my ear, as 

 it is invariably heard the moment the bird is fairly in the air. 

 These birds are not social, and, although found at times in num- 

 bers, move about either alone or in pairs. 



Their nests are usually placed on or under a tuft of grass; a 

 mere depression, scantily lined with bits of old grass leaves. 

 Eggs three or four, grayish olive, with more or less of a brown- 

 ish shade, spotted and blotched, chiefly about the larger end, 

 with varying shades of umber brown, and usually sharp, scratchy 

 lines of black; in shape, pyriform. A set of four eggs, taken 

 May 3d, 1878, at Pewaukee, Wisconsin, from a nest on a marsh, 

 are, in dimensions: 1.51x1.14, 1.52x1.12, 1.54x1.13, 1.56 



xl.13. 



GENUS MACROEHAMPHUS LEACH. 



"General appearance of Gallinago. Tarsi longer than middle toe; a short 

 web between the base of outer and middle toe. Plumage very different in win- 

 ter and summer; young different from the adult. The membrane at the base of 

 the toes will at once distinguish this genus from GaUinago, though there are 

 other characters involved." 



Macrorhainphus scolopaceus (SAY). 



LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. 

 PLATE X. 



Migratory; common. Arrive in April; begin to return in 

 August, and I have noticed the birds late in October. 



