The Long-billed Dowitcher 



taining young and an egg. In a State which is notable for distributional 

 exceptions and faunistic anomalies, few records equal this one in interest. 

 Think of it! A bird which breeds habitually to the limit of trees in British 

 America, and which barely deigns to display itself in summer in favored 

 localities in the northern tier of eastern states, nevertheless tarries in 

 California in the heart of the orange belt, and miles south of the burning 

 wastes of the Mojave Desert ! Who shall deny that California is an empire, 

 a microcosm, a world within herself! 



Whether or no the Jack-snipe is actually on the increase in Cali- 

 fornia, we cannot say, yet. The observance of the excellent laws now on 

 the statute books is calculated to restore the species to something like 

 its former status. But until lately the Jack-snipe has been the victim of 

 terrific and incessant persecutions, especially in the "old" South. Bearing 

 in mind that the Jack-snipe is in itself one of the most difficult birds to 

 shoot, the following example of human skill — and rapacity — will show how 

 unequal has become the contest between bird and brute. The case is 

 cited by Wells W. Cooke: 1 "How they (the Wilson Snipe) abounded 

 formerly and how they were slaughtered by southern gunners is forcibly 

 shown by the record of a single hunter in Louisiana, who, during the 

 twenty years from 1867 to 1887 killed 69,087 birds, an average of 3,500 

 snipe a winter. In 1870 about 100 snipe were killed by this man for each 

 day he hunted. The maximum was reached in 1875, with 150 birds a day; 

 this fell to 100 in 1880, and to 80 in 1887. Individual days far exceeded 

 these average figures. The highest score for seven consecutive shooting 

 days was reached in 1877, when, on December 8th, 270 snipe were killed; 

 December 10th, 255; December nth, 366; December 13th, 271 ; December 

 15th, 286; December 17th, 233; and December 19th, 262 — an average of 

 278 a day and a total of 1,943 birds in seven days' shooting. The bag on 

 December nth — 366 snipe — is supposed to be the world's record for 

 slaughter by one man in one day." There are doubtfully 366 Wilson 

 Snipe resident in California at the present time and without question there 

 are not as many breeding birds within the limits of the United States as 

 this one Caligula has killed. 



No. 235 



Long-billed Dowitcher 



A. O. U. No. 232. Limnodromus griseus scolopaceus (Say). 

 Synonyms. — Western Dowitcher. Western Red-breasted Snipe. Red- 

 bellied Snipe. Brown Snipe (spring). Gray Snipe (fall). 



1 "Our Shore-birds and their Future" by Wells W. Cooke, Yearbook Dept. of Agriculture for 1914, p. 279. 



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