90 
SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 
Nest. — A depression in the moss or grass, sometimes at considerable 
distance from water. Eggs : 4, greenish olive to light clay color, spotted 
with dark umber brown. 
By some ornithologists scolopaceus is considered merely a western 
subspecies of griseus, with intergrades between and probably a con¬ 
tinuous breeding range across the arctic regions. In winter plum¬ 
age the main difference is one of size, but as the females of both 
species are larger than the males only birds of the same sex should 
be compared. 
In their migrations over the United States the long-billed dow- 
itchers are usually found in little flocks along the coasts or among 
the prairie sloughs or marshes, flying swiftly low over the ground, 
or feeding in close bunches. Unfortunately they are considered 
legitimate game, and although wild and ever on the alert fall an easy 
prey to the pot-hunter. 
For an interesting account of their habits on their breeding 
grounds, see Nelson’s Birds of Alaska. Vernon Bailey. 
GENUS MICROPALAMA. 
233. Micropalama himantopus ( Bonap .). Stilt Sandpiper. 
Bill long and slender, conspicuously widened and roughened at tip ; toes 
webbed at base, legs long and slender. 
Adults in summer: upper parts mottled 
with dusky, black, buff, and brown ; up¬ 
per tail coverts white, barred with dusky; 
ear coverts and stripe along side of crown 
rusty brown ; under parts thickly barred 
and mottled with dusky, buff, and white. Adults in winter: upper parts 
plain ashy gray, under parts including tail coverts white, specked on 
sides ; throat and tail coverts marked with gray. Young : back browner, 
belly plain buffy, tail coverts nearly pure white. Length : 7.50-9.25, wing 
5.00-5.30, bill 1.55-1.75, tarsus 1.55-1.70. 
Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding north of the United 
States; south in winter to Central and South America; west to Colorado 
and Wyoming. 
Goss, in his Birds of Kansas, says: “ I have met with this rare 
species in the state on several occasions, at all times in small flocks 
and along the edges of old channels of rivers or muddy pools of 
water in which it wades while feeding.” 
GENUS THING A. 
General Characters. — Toes slender, without webs at base; bill slender 
and narrow, tip hard and smooth. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Middle pair of tail feathers not longer than others . canutus, p. 91. 
T. Middle pair of tail feathers sharp and longer than the others. 
Fig. 104. 
