156 
Ridgway on Macrorhamphus griseus, etc. 
157 
Lawrence on the Greater Long-Beak. 
another feature, and that is in having the feathers of the breast and 
abdomen edged with a lighter rufous or white, this being particularly 
strongly marked on a specimen in the collection of Mr. George N. 
Lawrence taken in Florida during the spring of 1879. In summer 
specimens of M. griseus, the rufous of the breast blends into white 
on the abdomen, and the whole is more or less spotted. . 
In the notes, which are so characteristic of all the Lmucolce, and 
in the time of its arrival and departure during the spring and fall 
migrations, it differs essentially from M. griseus. The note of M. 
scolopaceus is much louder and clearer, and easily distinguished from 
the rather plaintive note of M. griseus, bearing about the same rela- 
tion to it as the notes of the Big and Little Yellow-leg bear to each 
other. 
Mr. George Lawrence Nicholas, in speaking of the capture ^of a 
specimen of°this bird last summer, on Shinnecock Bay, says : “The 
note was entirely different from that of a Dowitcher, being made 
up of several quick sharp whistles. I am quite sure it is not a 
Dowitcher, as it is quite different in color, the under parts being 
like those of Tringa canutus, and only the throat and sides being 
spotted. Mr. Lane, with whom I was staying, says that for the 
past three years he has seen these birds in company with the 
Dowi'tciiers, and they seem to be increasing in numbers. He and 
the other gunners of the house also say they have never heard this 
bird give a note anything like that of the Dowitcher.” * 
In regard to the spring arrival of this bird, Mr. George N. Law- 
rence gives March 20 as the earliest date, he having secured several 
specimens in Fulton Market, N. Y„ at that time, from Long Island 
which is about six weeks earlier than any recorded capture of M. 
griseus. The gunners in the vicinity of Rockaway, L. I., make a dis- 
tinction between the two birds, calling M. scolopaceus the White-tail 
Dowitcher, and say it is the first to come in the spring, and that 
during the southern migrations it remains until late m the fall, 
after the Dowitchers have disappeared. Five of my specimens agree 
with the prevailing opinion of being late migrants ; the sixth is m 
summer plumage, taken in August, and is my earliest record from 
Long Island. 
The latest record I can find of this bird is a note by Dr. Thomas 
M. Brewer, f in which he speaks of the capture of a specimen of 
* “Bird Notes from Long Island,” Forest and Stream, Vol. XIV, No. 3. 4 
t Bulletin of Nuttall Orth. Club, VoL IV, No. I, p. 64. 
_ 1 
M. scolopaceus at Eastham, Mass., by Mr. Frank L. Tileston, Nov. 
2, 1878. 
I have never seen more than one at a time, although an old 
gunner informs me he has had a flock of five come in to his decoys. 
The following are my records of the bird in question : — 
Sept. 27, 1873. Shot a young female out of a small flock of Totanus 
flavipes ; when first seen it was supposed to be a Dowitcher, but at the 
same time I was struck with the large size and length of bill noticeable at 
quite a distance. (This was the first time I had seen the bird alive.) 
Sept. 28, 1873. One observed flying with a flock of Totanus flavipes. 
Sept. 15, 1874. Had a fine specimen alight within a few feet of my 
blind while Snipe-shooting ; it was very gentle, and I watched it for some 
time, but, on starting it up, failed to secure it. 
Sept. 25, 1875. Shot an immature bird in a salt pond on the marshes ; 
peculiarity of note noticed. 
Aug. 7, 1878. Secured an adult specimen in summer plumage; came 
in to the decoys alone ; abdomen uniform pale rufous. 
Oct. 13, 1878. While lying for Ducks at a pond on the marshes early 
one morning, I heard the note of this bird from high overhead, but could 
not see it ; the next moment it darted down and settled alongside of a 
Duck decoy, notwithstanding the water was almost up to its breast, where 
I secured it. Bull. N. O.O. 5,Jnly, 1880, p. /4'T . 
ON MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS (GMEL.) AND M. SCOLO- 
PACEUS (SAY). 
BY ROBERT RIDGWAY. 
Not being fully satisfied in my own mind as to the exact status 
of the bird called Macrorhamphus scolopaceus, and there being much 
variance of opinion among ornithologists concerning the bird in 
question, I was induced, some months since, to submit to a very 
close examination all the material at my command, and to carefully 
analyze all the published data bearing on the subject. The collec- 
tion of birds of this genus in the National Museum, while very ex- 
tensive (embracing no less than 75 specimens), was unfortunately 
deficient in examples from Eastern localities ; therefore the conclu- 
sion arrived at from the study of this material alone proved errone- 
ous, from the fact that nearly all were of the scolopaceus type, the 
