64. WATER BIRDS 



Young: Similar, but belly and chest tinged with uniform light red- 

 brown. 



Geographical Distribution : Mississippi valley and Western North Amer- 

 ica from Mexico to Alaska. In California it is found as a common 

 winter visitant in the interior valleys. 



Breeding Range : The Yukon valley and arctic regions. 



Breeding Season : May 28 to July 1. 



Nest : A shallow depression in Alaskan moss ; placed on dry hill-tops. 



Eggs : 3 or 4 ; dirty grayish buff, marked with blackish brown. Size 

 1.80 X 1.20. 



In California, the Long-billed Dowitchers occur only 

 in the winter, when cold drives them southward from 

 their chosen haunts among the frozen regions of Alaska. 

 They come in October, flying in little companies along 

 the coast region or through the interior valleys, feeding 

 wherever there is a suitable marshy place. About San 

 Francisco Bay and Alviso they may occasionally be seen 

 on migration, but as soon as possible they find winter 

 quarters in the more sheltered valleys. Their flight is 

 strong and swift, though rather low. When resting, the 

 Dowitchers huddle together in the tall grass, and are 

 either so confiding or so stupid that they are easy victims 

 to the hunter. To know them one must watch them in 

 their nesting grounds in the Yukon valley. Here, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Nelson, their noisy wooing can be heard 

 morning and evening, the love song being a clear " pee- 

 ter- wee-too ; wee-too ! pee-ter-wee-too ; wee-too," sung 

 as the pair hover in midair, twenty yards above the 

 earth. 



The unlined nest is usually in a clump of Alaskan 

 moss or dry grass, and not very near the water. The 

 young are covered with brownish gray down, so pro- 

 tective in coloring as to render their discovery difficult. 



