40 



BIRDS OP ILLINOIS. 



coast it is known to sportsmen as the Dowitcher, Dowitch, or 

 Gray-back, and in tlie latter part of summer, when the immense 

 flocks move southward, it is a favorite game bird. 



Macrorhamphus scolopaceus (iSay). 



LONG-BILLED DOWITCHEB. ^ 



Popular synonyms. Greater Long-beak; Greater Gray-back; Bed-bellied Snipe. 



Limosa scolopacea Sat, Long's Exped. ii, 1823, 170. 

 Macrorhamphus scolopaceus Lawk. Ann. Lyo. N. Y. v, 1852, 4, pi. 1 (Long Island).— 

 Cass, in Baird'a B. N. Am. 1858, 712.— Baied, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 525.— A. O. U. 

 Check List, 1886, No. 232.— ElDGW. Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 151. 

 Macrorha/mnhus griseus var. scolopaceus CouBS, Check List, 1874, No. 41Sa. 

 Macrorhamphus griseus scolopaceus Bidgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 527o.— Coues, 



2d Check List, 1882, No. 610. 

 Macrorhamphus griseus, 6, scolopaceus B. B. & E. Water B. N. Am. i, 1884, 196. 

 Scolopax longirostris Beix, Ann. Lyo. N. T. v, 1852, 3. 

 Macrorhamphus griseus (part) Ooues, Key, 1872, 253; B. N. W. 1874, 476. 



Hab. North America in general, but chiefly the western portions ol the continent; east 

 to the Mis^ssippi Valley, north to Alaska, and south to South America and the West Indies. 

 Occasional along the Atlantic coast of the United States during migrations. 



Sp. Ohab. Adultin summer: Similar to M. griseus, butabdomen pale cinnamon, like rest 

 of lower parts, and without markings, the breast scantily speckled and the sides barred 

 with dusky. Winter plumage and young: Distinguishable from the corresponding stages 

 of M. griseus only (?) by larger size. 



wing, 5.40-6.00 (5.74); oulmen, 2.19-3.00 (2.72); tarsus, 1.35-1.75 a. 58); middle toe, .97- 

 1.15 a.Ol). 



So far as known the habits of this species are essentially the 

 same as those of the M. griseus. We have at present no means 

 of knowing which is the commoner form in Illinois, but in all 

 probability the present one is that which predominates. It is 

 rather a straggler along the Atlantic coast, where, however, 

 many specitnens have been taken. 



Genus MICROPAIiAMA Baird. 



Micropalama Baibd, B. N. Am. 1858, 726. Type, Tringa himantopus Bonaf. 



" Ohae. Form slender, the legs very long, the bill long and much compressed, the an- 

 terior toes all webbed at the base. Tarsus nearly Iwloe as long as the middle toe, which is 

 a little shorter than the bare portion of the tibia, this aoutellate before and behind, like the 

 tarsus. Bill slender, straight, about eQual to the tarsus, greatly compressed, except at the 

 end, which is decidedly expanded laterally. Tail nearly even, but the central and exterior 

 feathers usually perfeptibly longer than the rest. Wings long and pointed. 



"The present genus with a basal membrane to all the anterior 

 tijes, as in Ereu/netes, has this a little more deeply emarginate; 

 the bill and legs much longer; the former more curved. The 

 bare portion of tibia is covered before and behind by transverse 

 scutellse, like the tarsus. The tail Is nearly even, With a double 



