‘KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 275 
The eggs are pale buff color spotted with chocolate brown, more nu- 
merously at the larger ends; bill brown (greenish gray in life), paler at base 
and darker toward the end. 
Genus MACRORHAMPHUS Leacu. 
MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS (Gme/.). 
Dowitcher. Red-breasted Snipe. 
Adult in summer: A small web between the inner 
toes; upper parts blackish; feathers edged with tawny 
brown; top of head blackish mottled with tawny 
brown; under parts red brown, banded on the sides; 
throat and breast only slightly spotted, entirely with- 
out spots in some plumages; tail and tail coverts 
barred with black. Bill dark olive. 
In winter: Upper parts grayish, feathers showing 
faint edges of buff on the back; chin and superciliary 
stripe dull grayish white; breast gray, showing slight 
traces of tawny; rest of under parts dirty white, mot- 
tled on the crissum; tail banded black and white. 
Length, 10.30; Wing, 5.70; Tarsus, 1.30; Bill, 2.20 
to 2.50. 
Ranges from the Arctic Circle to South America; common during the 
migrations, being common in winter in Florida. It breeds in the far north, 
eggs being pale buff or dull olive mottled and speckled with dark brown. 
MACRORHAMPHUS SCOLOPACEUS (Say.). 
Long-billed Dowitcher. Western Red-breasted Snipe. 
Resembles the preceding species, but the bill is longer and the sides of the body are more 
distinctly barred with black; the principal difference is one of size. 
Length, 11; Wing, 6.05; Tarsus, 1.55; Bill, 2.20 to 2.60, 
This is a western species, which occasionally occurs on the Atlantic 
coast. It is a common bird in Florida in winter. The eggs are similar in 
coloration to those of the preceding species. 
