362 GAME BISDS OF CALIFORNIA 



when they are wounded. The possession of a slight webbing at the 

 bases of the toes is probably correlated with this ability in swimming. 

 Dowitehers swim with a bobbing motion of the head and this is accom- 

 panied by a corresponding jerking of the tail (Cones, loc. cit.), in 

 much the manner of a Rail. When frightened and forced to take 

 wing, or when moving to a new location, they fly in a small compact 

 flock with quick turning much like the small Sandpipers. In flight 

 they are usually silent, and the head and long bill are held at an angle 

 (about 30°) to the rest of the body. These characters serve to dis- 

 tinguish the species when only the outline is observable. Dowitehers 

 frequently associate with other waders and when doing so often lead 

 the flock of which they happen to be members. 



The Long-billed Dowitcher nests during the latter part of May 

 and probably throughout the month of June, as eggs have been taken 

 at St. Michael, Alaska, on May 23, 1880, and at Fort Anderson, 

 Mackenzie, June 21, 1864, and June 15, 1865 ; while incubating birds 

 were secured at Point Barrow, Alaska, on June 28, 1883 (Cooke, 1910, 

 p. 29). The nest is a simple structure composed at most of a few 

 decayed leaves in a depression in the mossy ground (Macfarlane, in 

 Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 1884, I, p. 199), or may be onlj"^ "... a 

 shallow depression formed by the bird's body in the soft moss and 

 without a trace of lining." That is to say, there is "no nest, except 

 the dead grass naturally found in the place occupied ..." (Nelson, 

 1887, p. 101). 



The best account of the nesting habits of the Long-billed Dowitcher 

 is that supplied by Nelson (loc. cit.), who found the birds in the 

 vicinity of Norton Sound, Alaska. 



Two or three males start in pursuit of a female and away they go twisting 

 and turning, here and there, over marsh and stream, with marvelous swiftness 

 and dexterity. At short intervals a male cheeks his flight for a moment to 

 utter a strident peet-H-weet ; w&e-too, wee-too; then on he goes full tilt again. 

 After they have mated, or when a solitary male pays his devotions, they rise 

 15 or 20 yards from the ground, where, hovering upon quivering wings, the 

 bird pours forth a lisping but energetic and frequently musical song, which 

 can be very imperfectly expressed by the syllables piet-peet ; pee-ter-wSe-too ; 

 w6e-too; pee-ter-wee-too ; pSe-ter-w6e-too ; wSe-too; wee-too. This is the complete 

 song, but frequently only fragments are sung, as when the bird is in pursuit 

 of the female. 



June 16, while crossing a tussock-covered hill-top, over a mile from any 

 water, I was surprised to see a female of this species flutter from her nest 

 about 6 feet in front of me, and skulk ofE through the grass with trailing wings 

 and depressed head for some 10 or 15 yards, then stand nearly concealed by a 

 tuft of grass and watch me. . . . 



. . . The young are full grown and on the wing with their parents [by] 

 the last of July, and the first of August finds the adults rapidly changing their 

 breeding-dress for that of winter, and gathering into flocks. By the first 

 of September they are in perfect winter dress, and frequent muddy flats, the 



