MACEOEHAMPHUS. — MICEOPALAMA. 369 



Two races of M. gn'seus are recognized by American ornithologists, the true M. griseus 

 being considered to be the Eastern form, and M. scolopaceus the Western. In the 

 * Catalogue of Birds ' Dr. Sharpe has given the dimensions of the bill in a large series 

 of specimens, and has shown that the longer bill of the Western birds is often equalled 

 by that of examples from Eastern North America, and he comes to the conclusion 

 that they cannot be separated ^^. 



Taking the two as belonging to one species, the Eed-breasted Snipe breeds in Arctic 

 America and passes through the United States on migration. It apparently arrives at 

 the latter end of the summer, like other Waders which breed in the far north, for 

 Mr. Dresser noticed Jf. ymetts at Matamoros on the 29th of June; from that time 

 onwards the birds continued to appear, some migrating further south, but a considerable 

 number remaining in the neighbourhood. He shot specimens both in the grey and in 

 the red plumage^. At Mazatlan, Grayson found the species by no means abundant, 

 making its appearance in October and remaining for a short time only ^^, while Sumi- 

 chrast met with it in Tehuantepec in August and February i^. Salvin records that he 

 observed it in numbers on the sandbanks of Chiapam, on the Pacific side of Guatemala^. 



The habits on migration of Macrorhamphus, as given by Mr. Elliot ^^, seem to be 

 remarkably like those of the European Godwits. He says that when the flocks pass 

 at any height they are difficult to decoy by an imitation of their whistle ; but if they 

 descend to the ground their unsuspicious nature often leads them to settle close 

 to the decoy-birds, when they fall easy victims to the gunner, as they frequently 

 return to the same spot after having been fired at. Although supposed to have some 

 affinity with the true Snipes {Gallinago), the habits oi Macrorhamphus are those of 

 Sandpipers, with which it is accustomed to associate. Mr. Dresser says that near 

 Matamoros he found M. griseus, in company with other Sandpipers, on the shores of 

 the lagoons, and in Guatemala Salvin always saw it in the open, where there was 

 no cover whatever, its habits strongly contrasting in this respect with those of the 

 Common Snipe ^. 



The nest is merely a depression amongst moss, with a slight lining of leaves and grass; 

 it is found on the marshy shores of the lakes in the Arctic Regions. The eggs are four 

 in number, of a drab- or fawn-colour, with shadings of rufous or olivaceous, covered 

 with chocolate and sepia markings, most numerous on the larger end 



12 



MICEOPALAMA. 



Micropalama, Baird, Birds N. Amer. p. 726 (1858) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mas. xxiv. p. 401 

 (1896). 



This genus belongs to the group of Tattlers and Sandpipers, in which the bill, though 

 of fair length, is not Snipe-like as in Macrorhamphus, and is not so long as the tail. 

 In Micropalama the bill is long and slender, slightly widened at the tip, which is 



BIOL. CENTR.-AMEE., Aves, Vol. III., Motf 1903. 47 



