nor has the species been seen in summer at any place where it was
probably breeding. The dowitcher is a common migrant on the coasts
of New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, and in
fall is sometimes very abundant. Farther north its numbers
decrease: New Hampshire, tolerably common in fall, no spring
records; Maine, tolerably common spring and fall; Quebec, rare
migrant; New Brunswick, no records; Nova Scotia, once (Sharpe);
Prince Edward Island, once; Ungava, a few in August, 1860, at
Henley Harbor (Coues), one June 10, 1883, at Fort Chimo (Turner).
North of Ungava, the only record is that of a single accidental
occurrence at Fiskenaes, Greenland (Reinhardt). Evidently the
dowitcher does not breed in any numbers, on the eastern coast of
Ungava. The probability that it does not breed there at all is
strengthened by the fact that several first-class observers, who
during the fall migration were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, did not
see any of the birds. It undoubtedly does not go into northeastern
Keewatin and the islands of the Province of Franklin, for it is not
reported by the various expeditions that have traveled and wintered
in those districts, while the specimens taken on the west coast of
Hudson Bay belong to the form called scolopaceus. The only district
left for the breeding ground is the interior of Ungava and the
eastern shore of Hudson Bay.
W. E. Clyde Todd, who has probably done more field work than anyone else
on the east coast of Hudson Bay, writes to me:
Replying to your query about the dowitcher, it is my opinion that
this species does not breed in the interior of northern Ungava, but
I admit I have nothing to prove it one way or the other. It seems
to me, though, that if it did breed there, it would be far more
common than it is at the southern end of James Bay in migration,
instead of being one of the rarer kinds. I never saw it anywhere
north of this part, but then I have not been in northern Ungava in
the breeding season.
Turner's record of a single bird at Fort Chimo, on June 10, 1883, seems
to be the only peg on which to hang the Ungava theory; and this may have
been a straggler. The Alberta birds are somewhat intermediate; and
probably typical _griseus_, if there is any such thing, will be found
breeding somewhere in the muskeg regions of central Canada between
Alberta and Hudson Bay.
There are several sets of dowitcher's eggs in collections, from this
general region, collected in 1903 and 1906, which have been looked upon
with some suspicion; one came from Hayes River Flat, 25 miles north of
55°, one from just south of Little Slave Lake, and three from Little Red
Deer River, Alberta. Now that the dowitcher has been definitely shown to
breed in Alberta, these records look authentic.
To A. D. Henderson and his guests is due all the credit for recent
positive evidence. On June 18, 1924, he found a pair of dowitchers with
two young, only a day or two old, "near a small lake in a muskeg about
17 miles northeast of Fort Assiniboine." The following season he found
dowitchers again at three different places in the same region, "probably
a dozen pairs in all"; and on June 2, about 35 miles northeast of Fort
Assiniboine, he took his first set of three fresh eggs. The nest was "in
a muskeg in open growth of small tamarac trees about 125 yards from a
lake"; he describes it as "a hollow in a lump of moss, scantily lined
with a few tamarac twigs, leaves, and fine dry grass, at the root of a
small dead alder about 12 inches high"; it measured 1-3/4 inches deep
and 4 inches across; the top was 4 inches above standing water.
Mr. Harlow, who was with Mr. Henderson the next year, 1926, took two
sets of four eggs each. One "nest was in an extensive tundralike muskeg,
very quaking and wet, and the nest was in a small bunch of dwarf birch,
not over 12 inches high, on the end of a little ridge of moss and
completely surrounded on three sides by water." The male was seen
"singing" near the nest. He joined the female after she had fluttered
off the nest and the pair were seen feeding together; several times they
stood erect and rubbed their bills together. After the eggs were taken
a set of phalarope's eggs was placed in the nest; the dowitcher returned
took one look at the eggs and then flew away and was never seen near the
nest again.
_Eggs._--One of Mr. Henderson's sets was apparently complete with three
eggs, but four is the usual number. There is probably no constant
difference between the eggs of this and its long-billed relative. One of
Mr. Harlow's sets he describes as "light olive-green, rather lightly
marked with pin points, spots, flecks, and a few blotches of dark umber
and dark brown." The other set, he says, is slightly darker olive-green
and is "much more heavily spotted and blotched with small and large
spots of umber and brown and under shell markings of a lighter color."
The measurements of 18 Alberta eggs average 40.8 by 29.2 millimeters;
the eggs showing the four extremes measure =44= by 29.5, 41 by =30.3=,
=38.2= by 28.5, and 38.7 by =27.7= millimeters.
_Plumages._--The plumages and molts, which are the same in both forms,
are fully described under the long-billed dowitcher.
_Food._--The favorite feeding grounds of the dowitchers are the mud
flats and sand flats in sheltered bays and estuaries, or the borders of
shallow ponds on the marshes, where they associate freely with small
plovers and sandpipers. Although not inclined to move about actively,
their feeding motions are very rapid, as they probe in the mud or sand
with quick, perpendicular strokes of their long bills, driving them in
their full length again and again in rapid succession; while feeding in
shallow water the whole head is frequently immersed and sometimes
several strokes are made with the head under water. Dr. E. R. P. Janvrin
writes to me:
Mr. J. T. Nichols and I watched three individuals feeding on the
salt meadows late in the afternoon, continuing our observations
until it was so dark that we could hardly distinguish the birds any
longer; at which time the birds were still feeding. The question
arose whether dowitchers might not be nocturnal in their feeding
habits, as is the case with the woodcock and Wilson's snipe, since
the sense of sight is certainly not essential to their probing for
food.
Various observers have noted among the food items of the dowitcher
grasshoppers, beetles, flies, maggots, marine worms, oyster worms,
leeches, water bugs, fish eggs, small mollusks, seeds of aquatic plants,
and the roots of eelgrass.
_Behavior._--Dowitchers are the gentlest and most unsuspicious of shore
birds, which has made them easy prey for the avaricious gunner. Their
flight is swift and steady, often protracted and sometimes at a great
elevation, when looking for feeding places. They usually fly in compact
flocks by themselves, sometimes performing interesting evolutions high
in the air. They often fly, however, in flocks with other small waders,
but the dowitchers are generally bunched together in the flock; I once
shot four dowitchers out of a mixed flock without hitting any of the
smaller birds. When a flock of dowitchers alights the birds are closely
bunched, but they soon scatter out and begin to feed. If a flock is shot
into, the sympathetic and confiding birds return again and again to
their fallen companions until only a pitiful remnant is left to finally
escape. Such slaughter of the innocents well-nigh exterminated this
gentle species; but, now that it is protected, it is beginning to
increase again.
Although all shore birds can swim, the dowitcher seems to be especially
adept at it. Doctor Coues (1874) writes:
Being partly web-footed, this snipe swims tolerably well for a
little distance in an emergency, as when it may get for a moment
beyond its depth in wading about, or when it may fall,
broken-winged, on the water. On such an occasion as this last, I
have seen one swim bravely for 20 or 30 yards, with a curious
bobbing motion of the head and corresponding jerking of the tail,
to a hiding place in the rank grass across the pool. When thus
hidden they keep perfectly still, and may be picked up without
resistance, except a weak flutter, and perhaps a low, pleading cry
for pity on their pain and helplessness. When feeding at their
ease, in consciousness of peace and security, few birds are of more
pleasing appearance. Their movements are graceful and their
attitudes often beautifully statuesque.
W. E. D. Scott (1881) says:
A curious habit of this species was noted at the mouth of the
Withlacoochee, where I saw the birds alight in very deep water and
swim about for considerable time. This occurred in every instance
after a flock had been fired at, and I thought at first that the
birds had been wounded, but after observing the occurrence a number
of times and on watching the birds while in the water I concluded
that such was not the case. Those I noted were generally solitary
individuals, but twice I saw three, and once four, alight in the
water, swim lightly and gracefully about, and, when disturbed, rise
easily and fly away.
_Voice._--John T. Nichols has sent me the following notes on the
characteristic calls of this species.
The flight note of the dowitcher resembles that of the lesser
yellow-legs but is recognizably different, less loud and more
hurried, usually suggesting the bird's name: _dowitch_, or
_dowitcher_, sometimes of a single syllable. This call is subject
to considerable variation. When used as a regular flight or
recognition note I believe it is most frequently two-syllabled,
clear and full. When the call becomes more abrupt and emphatic and
the last syllable is multiplied it seems to indicate that the bird
is excited rather than to have other especial significance; thus,
_dowicheche_.
This note appears to be identical in the eastern dowitcher and the
long-billed race which I have studied in Florida. Other minor calls
of the dowitcher are single, unloud, low-pitched _chups_ with which
a flock manoeuvred about decoys (Long Island, August) resembling an
analogous yellowleg note; a low rattle when dropping down to alight
(Long Island, May); a mellow, ploverlike _cluee_, suggesting a call
of single lesser yellow-legs when loath to leave a feeding ground,
calling to other more restless individuals of their kind. This was
heard from a single dowitcher on the ground when a flock of lesser
yellow-legs was flushed a little way off. When these departed it
took wing with more usual dowitcher calls and followed after (Long
Island, July). I have on record also a startled _chee_ from an
extra tame long-billed dowitcher in Florida, flushed by being
almost struck by something thrown at it.
While observing the shore bird migration on the coast of New Jersey,
during the last week of May, with Dr. Harry C. Oberholser, we frequently
heard the pretty and vivacious flight song of the dowitcher. It was a
sibilant, whistling song, rather loud and with a staccato effect. Doctor
Oberholser, whose ears are better than mine now are, wrote down his
impressions of it for me. Three short notes were heard separately,
_tíliloo_, _tídilee_ and _tíchilee_, accented on the first syllable; the
last two were commonest. The complete song sounded like
_tídilee-tí-tscha-tscha-tscha_ or _tíchilee-tí-tsocha-tscha-tscha_, with
numerous variations and combinations of the above notes, a very striking
song. This is somewhat similar in form to the song of the long-billed
dowitcher heard on its breeding grounds and described by Dr. E. W.
Nelson (1887); it is probably a courtship song.
_Field marks._--The dowitcher when standing is a fat, chunky bird, with
short greenish legs and a very long bill, with which it probes
perpendicularly. In flight it also appears stout and usually carries its
long bill pointed slightly downward; in adult plumage it appears very
dark colored. It has none of the slender appearance of the yellow-legs
and its flight is steadier. When seen flying away from the observer the
grayish white central band on its back is conspicuous, as are the black
and white, barred tail feathers.
_Fall._--The dowitcher is one of the earliest of the fall migrants;
probably the first arrivals are birds that, for one reason or another,
have failed to raise broods of young, for the time elapsing between the
late-spring migration and the early-fall flight is not sufficient for
successful breeding. The first adults arrive on Cape Cod early in July;
my earliest date is July 4. Adults are common all through July, and I
have seen them as late as August 16. The young birds come along later,
from August 8 to September 25. While with us they frequent the mud flats
and edges of muddy ponds or bays in the marshes; they are seldom seen on
the sandy beaches or far out on the sand flats. They associate freely
with the smaller sandpipers, least, and semipalmated, or with the
semipalmated plover and turnstones. Often in the great flocks of these
small sandpipers a number of dowitchers may be easily recognized by
their much larger size and very dark appearance, also by their much
longer bills. They are then often concentrated in compact groups or
strung out in a long line, close to the edge of the water, probing in
the soft mud with quick strokes of their long bills. They are easily
approached at such times, as they are almost as tame and unsuspicious
as the little peep. When the flats are covered at high tide these birds
resort to the salt marshes or meadows, where they rest and sleep; in
such places they often lie very close and flush singly, much after the
manner of Wilson snipe.
_Game._--Dowitchers, or "brown backs," as they are called on Cape Cod,
have been popular game birds, and immense numbers have been shot in past
years. Audubon (1840) says that "it is not at all uncommon to shoot 20
or 30 of them at once. I have been present when 127 were killed by
discharging three barrels, and have heard of many dozens having been
procured at a shot." Edward Sturtevant says that a market hunter near
Newport, Rhode Island, shot 1,058 dowitchers during the years from 1867
to 1874. Their popularity and their tameness nearly caused the
extermination of the species. Mr. John C. Cahoon (1888) wrote then:
They have decreased very fast during the last five years, and where
we saw a flock of several dozens then we now see them singly or in
bunches not exceeding 10 or 12. They are the least shy of any of
the shore birds, and it is due to this fact that they have
decreased so fast. They are easily decoyed, and although they fly
swiftly their motion is steady and they keep closely together. They
alight in a compact bunch, and the gunner usually shoots into them
before they scatter out. Many are killed by a single discharge, and
those that remain spring up with a sharp whistle and fly a short
distance away, when hearing what they think to be the call of a
deserted comrade they wheel about and come skimming bravely back to
the murderous spot where they were first shot at. Again they are
shot at, and again the remaining half dozen are loath to leave
their dead and dying companions, and return to share their fate.
One or two may escape, and as they drop silently down on some
lonely sand spit, sad relics of their departed companions, what
sorrowful thoughts must be theirs as they wait for their comrades
that will never come.
Since that time the species has been saved by removing it from the
game-bird list, and it has increased considerably until now it is again
a fairly common bird. When flying in flocks it is too easily killed to
offer the sportsman much of a thrill, but when flushed singly on the
meadows it has more of a sporting chance for its life.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Chiefly eastern North America, islands of the Caribbean Sea
and central South America; casual in Greenland, Alaska, the British
Isles, and France.
_Breeding range._--The dowitchers which have been found breeding in
Alberta, from Little Red Deer River to Fort Assiniboine, are
intermediate between _griseus_ and _scolopaceus_, but nearer the former.
Eggs have also been taken at Hayes River Flat and just south of Little
Slave Lake, which are probably of this form. The breeding range of
typical _griseus_ probably lies between these points and the west side
of Hudson Bay and perhaps extends north to the Arctic coast.
_Winter range._--North to Louisiana (State game preserve, and Marsh
Island) and probably rarely to North Carolina (Fort Macon). East to
rarely North Carolina (Fort Macon); South Carolina (near Charleston, and
Frogmore); Georgia (Savannah and Blackbeard Island); Florida (Amelia
Island, Orange Hammock, and Bassenger); Bahama Islands (Great Inagua);
Jamaica; Lesser Antilles (Guadeloupe, Barbadoes and Grenada); Trinidad;
and Brazil (Para and Bahia). South to Brazil (Bahia); and northern Peru
(Tumbez). West to northern Peru (Tumbez); Colombia (Medellin); Cuba
(Isle of Pines); western Florida (Key West, Fort Myers, Sarasota Bay,
Tarpon Springs, and Pensacola); Louisiana (Marsh Island); and southern
California.
_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Virginia, Hog
Island, April 15, Norfolk, April 17, and Locustville, April 25; New
Jersey, Long Beach, May 6, New Brunswick, May 16; New York, Shinnecock
Bay Light, May 15, and Long Island, April 19; Connecticut, Norwalk, May
15; Rhode Island, Newport, May 20; Massachusetts, Monomoy Island, May 1;
Quebec, Green Island, May 25; Quebec, May 28, and Fort Chimo, June 10;
and New Brunswick, Grand Manan, June 13.
Late dates of spring departure are: New Jersey, Long Beach, May 20, Cape
May, May 20, New Brunswick, May 23, and Elizabeth, May 31; New York, New
York City, May 30, Long Island, June 12, and Long Beach, June 23.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of fall arrival are: Massachusetts,
Edgartown, July 4, Dennis, July 13, Monomoy Island, July 13, Marthas
Vineyard, July 24, and Harvard, July 26; Rhode Island, Newport, July 10;
Connecticut, Meriden, July 23; New York, Long Island, June 29, and East
Hampton, July 1; New Jersey, Long Beach, July 6, and Cape May, July 10;
Virginia, Cobb Island, June 19, and Bone Island, July 14; Georgia,
Savannah, September 23; and Mississippi, Bay St. Louis, August 24. A few
individuals may be found throughout the summer on the coast of Florida
and other Southern States, but they are not known to breed in these
regions.
Late dates of fall departure are: New Brunswick, Tabusintoc, October 23;
Quebec, Labrador, August 23, and Montreal, September 27; Maine,
Portland, August 13; Massachusetts, Harvard, August 25, Edgartown,
September 4, and Cape Cod, October 23; Rhode Island, Newport, October
20; New York, Rochester, September 13, Orient, September 21, New York
City, October 31, and Great West Bay Light, November 2; New Jersey,
Long Beach, October 1; and Virginia, Hog Island, November 12.
_Casual records._--The dowitcher has many times been taken outside of
what appears to be its normal range, in fact there are so many records
for the interior that it seems certain individuals regularly follow the
flyway of the Mississippi Valley.
Among these records are Bermuda, Harris Bay, September 26, 1847, and
August 21, 1848, Pearl Island, September 10, 1874, and Peniston Pond,
September 17, 1875; District of Columbia, Washington, September 1879;
Pennsylvania, Erie, July 19, 1892, and Carlisle, August 12, 1844, and
September 12, 1844; Tennessee, Reelfoot Lake, November 27, 1875;
Illinois, Mount Carmel, October 9, 1875, Calumet, October, 1881, South
Chicago, May 6, 1893, and Grand Crossing, July 19, 1893; Indiana,
Liverpool, September 9, 1892; Ohio, Pelee Island, August 10, 1924, and
September 3, 1910, and Columbus, October 16, 1921; Michigan, Wayne
County, July 16, 1906, August 26, 1905, and October 7, 1890; Ingham
County, August 26, 1897, and East Lansing, August 14, 1908; Ontario,
Toronto, August 1, 1894, August 24, 1891, and September 15, 1889, and
Ottawa, May 9, 1890; Iowa, Burlington, August 6, 1893, and August 16,
1893, and Marshalltown, August 10, 1914; Wisconsin, Lake Koshkonong,
August, 1886; Texas, Corpus Christi, May 18, 1886, San Patricio County,
June 11, 1887, Fort Clarke, April 26, 1882, Padre Island, August 26 and
27, 1891, Aransas Bay, August 14, 1905, and Rockport, February 3, 1909;
Idaho, St. Joseph Marshes, September 12, 1895 or 1896; Mackenzie, Fort
Rae, June 9, 1893; Greenland, Fiskenaesset in 1854; Ungava, Fort Chimo,
June 10, 1883; and Alaska, Nushagak, September 24, 1882, and June 9,
1884.
There also are 15 records of its occurrence in the British Isles; one
each near Havre, and Picardy, France, and northeastern Siberia, near
Jakutsk.
_Egg dates._--Alberta: 9 records, June 1 to 16.
LIMNODROMUS GRISEUS SCOLOPACEUS (Say)
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
HABITS
This is supposed to be a western form of the species, characterized by
an average larger size, a decidedly longer bill, and more uniformly
rufous under parts in the adult spring plumage. It was first described
and long regarded as a distinct species, but later developments have
shown intergradation and it has been reduced to sub-specific rank. The
above characters seem to hold good in all specimens collected on their
breeding grounds in Alaska and northwestern Mackenzie; and these
characters are distinctive and well marked. But in immature and winter
plumages the form can be recognized only by size; and, as the
measurements of the two forms overlap and intergrade, only the extremes
can be positively named. The matter is further complicated by the fact
that the migration and winter ranges of the two forms overlap. This
form, _scolopaceus_, is by no means rare on the Atlantic coast, and
_griseus_ occurs regularly on the Pacific coast; intermediates are most
abundant in the central valleys, but occur on both coasts.
_Spring._--The long-billed dowitcher is a rather early spring migrant;
the migration starts in March; the main flight through the United States
is in April; and it reaches its northern breeding grounds in May. Dr. E.
W. Nelson (1887) says of its arrival in northern Alaska:
In spring, the middle of May, as the snow disappears, and the first
pale leaves of grass begin to thrust their spear-points through the
dead vegetable mat on the ground, or as early as the 10th on some
seasons, this peculiar snipe returns to its summer home. At the
Yukon mouth I found them on May 12, when they were already engaged
in love-making, though the ground was still, to a great extent,
covered with snow, and only here and there appeared a thawed place
where they could feed. Toward the end of this month they are
plentiful, and their curious habits and loud notes make them among
the most conspicuous denizens of the marshes.
_Courtship._--Doctor Nelson (1887) writes:
These are very demonstrative birds in their love-making, and the
last of May and first of June their loud cries are heard everywhere
about their haunts, especially in morning and evening. 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 checks his
flight for a moment to utter a strident _pe-et u weet_; _wee-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
_peet-peet_; _pee-ter-wee-too_; _wee-too_; _pee-ter-wee-too_;
_pee-ter-wee-too_; _wee-too_; _wee-too_. This is the complete song
but frequently only fragments are sung, as when the bird is in
pursuit of the female.
Herbert W. Brandt says in his notes: