he hovers in the air with raised vibrating wings, perhaps 50 feet
above the object of his rapturous outburst. The female, from her
retreat on the cozy border of a lowland pool, modestly watches the
ardent lover as he renders his melodious homage. In common with
many others of the shore dwellers, the most conspicuous courting
action is the pursuit race by a number of males for their desired,
but elusive, lady love. It is then that one marvels at the speed
and agility displayed by apparently awkward birds, as they twist
and dodge in their aerial wooing. Even during his swift flight the
suitor tries, but with poor success, to continue his musical
efforts for the benefit of his larger paramour.
_Nesting._--MacFarlane's notes record brief descriptions of some half a
dozen nests found in the Anderson River region and on the borders of the
wooded country. These were all located on marshy ground near a swamp or
small lake. One is described as "a mere depression in the midst of a
tuft or decayed grass, lined with a few withered leaves." A set
collected for me by F. S. Hersey, near St. Michael, Alaska, June 9,
1914, was taken from a hollow in the moss between two clumps of grass on
the tundra; the female was flushed and shot. Mr. Brandt says in his
notes:
The nest of the long-billed dowitcher is a mere depression
scratched out on a small eminence on a wet moss-covered meadow
through which short sedges grow sparingly to a height of about six
inches. The nest, the bottom of which was usually wet, was in every
case surrounded by shallow fresh water and the basinlike cavity was
meagerly lined with grass and small leaves. In two nests the eggs
rested on the cold wet moss foundation still frozen a few inches
underneath and the scanty nesting material was all deposited on the
rim of the nest. In every instance the female was conducting the
incubation, but the male was in close attendance. The bird is a
very close sitter and must be almost trodden upon before it will
rise, wings spread, from its duties.
_Eggs._--Four eggs seems to be the invariable rule for the long-billed
dowitcher. In shape they vary from ovate pyriform to subpyriform; some
are quite rounded and others are decidedly pointed. They have only a
slight gloss. Mr. Brandt in his notes describes his four sets, as
follows:
The ground color has considerable variation and shows two distinct
types: The commoner one, the brown type, of which we found three
sets is "Saccardo's olive"; and the other type, represented by a
single set, is "greenish," shading to "bluish glaucous." The
markings are bold, slightly elongated and seldom confluent, so that
blotched markings are unusual. The eggs are medium to heavily
spotted, causing the ground color to be conspicuous, and, in
consequence, the underlying markings are very noticeable. The
primary spots are in various shades of brown, namely: "Vandyke
brown," "seal brown," and "Saccardo's umber," which make the egg
one of unusual beauty. The underlying spots are "drab gray" to
"light grayish olive" and are larger and more numerous than are
found on the other limicoline eggs we collected at Hooper Bay.
In my set the ground colors vary from "dark olive buff" to "olive buff."
Two of the eggs are irregularly spotted and blotched with spots of
various sizes; one is quite evenly marked with small elongated spots;
and another is sparingly spotted and blotched, chiefly about the larger
end. The colors of the markings are "Saccardo's umber," "bister" and
"warm sepia," with underlying markings of "deep" to "pale brownish
drab." In other collections I have seen a number of sets that matched
almost exactly certain types of heavily blotched eggs of the Wilson
snipe; these may be within the normal range of dowitcher's eggs; but I
have always been suspicious that some of them were wrongly identified.
The measurements of 79 eggs average 41.8 by 28.9 millimeters; the eggs
showing the four extremes measures =45.5= by 30.5, 44 by =32=, =37.5= by
29.2 and 39.4 by =26.3= millimeters.
_Young._--H. B. Conover has sent me the following interesting notes:
Newly hatched young were found June 22nd. The incubation period
seems to be about 20 days. A nest found by Murie on May 31 with two
eggs, had four eggs on June 2, and on being visited the evening of
June 22, was found to contain two young and two pipped eggs. The
colors of the soft parts of a downy young several days old were as
follows: Tarsus olive with blackish stripes down the sides, bill
black, iris brown. In the newly hatched young the tarsus is much
lighter. On June 23 while visiting the nest of a black-bellied
plover, I came across a pair of dowitchers that from their actions
appeared to have young. Not wishing to stop at the time, I passed
on, but on returning several hours later, found them again in a
marsh at the foot of a long, low hill. When I sat down to watch,
one bird wheeled about me calling, and then flew off down the
valley. The other bird at first I could not locate, but soon saw it
flying about the hillside chirping. I noticed that as this bird
passed over a certain spot, it would hover about 15 feet above the
ground, giving a whistling trill. After a few minutes it dawned on
me, that each time it hovered to give this call, it was a little
farther up the hillside. When I moved up toward the top of the
hill, the bird alighted close by, scolded for a while and then
commenced the same performance as before. In this way in about half
an hour the dowitcher and I had crossed the hill from one marsh to
another, a distance of about 600 yards. During all this time its
mate had appeared only twice, when it flew by calling and then
disappeared again. Finally the bird I was following alighted in the
marsh at the far side of the hill from where we had started, and
began running short distances, stopping and then running on again.
Watching through some field glasses, I soon saw a young one
following at its heels. Rushing down suddenly, three downies were
found hiding with their heads stuck into holes or depressions in
the moss. They appeared to be several days old. Evidently the old
dowitcher had led these young ones across the hill by simply
hovering over or in front of them and calling. The bird was
collected and proved to be a male. Just what the relation of the
male and female to the eggs and young is in this species it is hard
to say. From the experience above I believe the male does
nine-tenths of the work in caring for the chicks. I think this will
probably prove true as to the incubation of the eggs as well, but
that the female takes some share in the hatching seems probable, as
one collected in the vicinity of a nest showed incubation patches.
_Plumages._--The downy young dowitcher somewhat resembles the young
snipe, but has a somewhat different pattern of similar colors. The large
central crown patch is black, clouded, or overcast, with "chestnut" tips
and with two indefinite spots of whitish tips; the black extends down to
the bill; a broad, black loral stripe extends from the eye to the bill,
and a still broader postocular stripe from the eye to the nape; these
two stripes are separated from the dark crown patch by a stripe which is
"tawny" above the lores, buffy white over the eyes, and white around the
posterior half of the crown. The chin is buffy white, and the throat
and breast are "ochraceous tawny," becoming lighter and grayer on the
belly. The upper parts are much like those of the snipe, variegated, or
marbled, with black, "chestnut," and "umber brown," and spotted with
small round white spots, terminal tufts, which are very thick on the
wings and form roughly two rows down the back and two rows on each
thigh.
In fresh juvenal plumage in July in Alaska, the crown, back, and
scapulars are black, broadly edged with "cinnamon rufous" or "hazel";
the throat, breast, and flanks are gray, the feathers broadly tipped
with "ochraceous tawny" and streaked with black or spotted with dusky;
the tertials, innermost greater coverts, and the median coverts are
edged with "cinnamon buff." These edgings are much browner in
_scolopaceus_ and paler buff in _griseus_.
A postjuvenal molt, beginning in September and lasting until December or
later, involves a change of the body plumage, sometimes the tail and
some of the wing coverts and scapulars. This produces the first winter
plumage, which is like the adult winter plumage, except for the retained
juvenal scapulars, tertials, and wing coverts. The first prenuptial molt
is limited to a few scattering feathers in the body plumage, above and
below, some of the scapulars and wing coverts, and the tail; these are
like corresponding spring feathers of the adult. There is considerable
individual variation in the amount of new feathers in this first nuptial
plumage. I have seen birds in this plumage from March 28 to September 9.
They do not go north to breed, but remain in the South during the
summer. At the first postnuptial molt, in August, they assume the adult
winter plumage. In some young birds the prenuptial molt seems to be
omitted and the postnuptial molt seems to be a change from one winter
plumage to another.
Adults have a partial prenuptial molt from February to May, involving
all the body plumage, most of the scapulars, some of the tertials, the
central pair of rectrices and the wing coverts. I have seen adults in
full nuptial plumage as early as March 4 and as late as August 21. July
and August birds are very black above, due to the wearing away of the
buff edgings. There is much individual variation in the extent and
intensity of the rufous and in the amount of black spotting on the
breast. The complete postnuptial molt of adults begins in August and is
often finished in September. I have seen several birds in which the
primaries were being completely renewed during both months.
_Food._--Preble and McAtee (1923) give the following report on the
contents of two stomachs of long-billed dowitchers:
Two stomachs, of the two specimens last mentioned from St. Paul
Island, have been examined and their contents were almost
exclusively the larvae of midges (Chironomidae), of which there
were more than 75 in one gizzard and more than 100 in the other.
Vegetable débris, amounting to 3 per cent by bulk of the stomach
contents, also was present, and it probably was picked up
incidentally with the midge larvae. Included in the vegetable
matter were seeds of bottle brush (_Hippuris vulgaris_), sedge
(_Carex_ sp.), and water chick-weed (_Montia fontana_).
_Behavior._--I have never been able to discover any differences in
behavior between the two forms of the dowitcher; their habits are
doubtless similar. Some gunners think that they can distinguish the two
forms by their notes, but the differences in notes are probably due to
individual variations in a somewhat varied vocabulary. John T. Nichols
(1920) one of the closest students and best authorities on shore birds'
notes, says "the chances are there is no significant difference in the
calls of the two races."
_Fall._--S. F. Rathbun has sent me the following notes on the habits of
this bird on its migrations through the State of Washington:
The long-billed dowitcher will be found in the company of almost
any of the shore birds, in flocks of varying numbers, and even as
single individuals, but appears to show somewhat of a partiality
for the company of the black-bellied plover and the red-backed
sandpiper. On this coast both its spring and autumnal migrations
seem to be somewhat prolonged, for in the case of the former we
have records from April 11 until late in May; and for the latter
from early August until into November. It will be found alike on
the sandy beaches and the muddy flats, seemingly showing no
particular preference for either. When the tide is at its ebb on
the flats the birds oftimes become widely scattered and single ones
may be found in unexpected places. On one occasion as we were
walking across a grassy marsh the head and neck of a long-billed
dowitcher was seen exposed above the growth along the edge of one
of the little channels running through the marsh. As we approached
the bird it could be seen making attempts to rise, but this it was
unable to do on account of being impeded by the length of the
grass, and we drove the bird ahead until an open spot was reached
when it then took wing, at this time being but a few feet away.
On various occasions while we were watching flocks of the small
sandpipers about some bit of water, dowitchers would fly past and,
being attracted by the calls of other birds, they then after
circling for a moment or two would alight at the pool to feed.
When thus engaged they give the impression of being somewhat
deliberate in their actions and as they moved about some would
frequently wade up to their breasts into the shallow water, often
so remaining until by some action they seemed to lose a footing
and when this occurred a retreat would be made into a more shallow
part. Oftentimes one or more birds would suddenly cease feeding
and assume a posture of repose and when this took place it was a
common occurrence to see some standing on but one leg, thus to
remain motionless for a time.
Dowitchers do not appear to be very shy when found in the flocks
of the smaller sandpipers, but are the first birds to retreat as
one approaches the flock; and on such occasions it is generally
the case that one or more of them will suddenly take wing and put
the entire flock in motion. They are swift-flying birds and when
on the wing have a somewhat harsh note that is given from time to
time. In their spring dress they are attractive, as at this time
their under parts are a rich buff color, and a flock of dowitchers
seen at this season with the light striking full on their breasts
is indeed a handsome sight.
_Winter._--Dowitchers occur in winter as far south as Ecuador and Peru.
Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1926) referred the birds collected in Ecuador to
_scolopaceus_. Nonbreeding birds, or immatures, remain there all summer,
as they do in other parts of their winter range. I have taken both forms
of dowitchers in Florida, where they winter regularly in small numbers.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North America, Central America, Cuba, and northwestern South
America. Casual in Japan.
_Breeding range._--North to probably eastern Siberia (Cape Wankarem);
Alaska (Kuparuk River and Point Barrow); probably Yukon (Herschel
Island); and Mackenzie (Franklin Bay). East to Mackenzie (Franklin Bay).
South to Mackenzie (Fort Anderson); Yukon (Lapierre House); and Alaska
(Point Dall). West to Alaska (Point Dall, Pastolik, St. Michael, and
Kowak River); and probably eastern Siberia (Cape Wankarem).
_Winter range._--North to California (Los Banos and Santa Ana); Texas
(Corpus Christi); Louisiana (State Game Preserve); Florida (East Goose
Creek, Kissimmee, and Cape Canaveral); and probably Cuba (Santiago de
Vegas and San Fernando). East to probably Cuba (Santiago de Vegas);
Costa Rica (Alajuela); and probably Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador. South
to Ecuador. West to Guatemala; Tehuantepec (San Mateo); Jalisco (La
Barca); Lower California (La Paz, San Jose Mission and San Quentin); and
California (San Diego and Los Banos).
_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: South Carolina,
near Charleston, April 30; New York, Long Island, March 20; Illinois,
Cary's Station, April 24, and Chicago, April 28; Minnesota, Heron Lake,
May 1; Kansas, Manhattan, April 21, and Wichita, April 28; Nebraska,
Callaway, April 8, and Omaha, April 28; Iowa, Wall Lake, May 9; South
Dakota, Brown County, April 14, and Harrison, April 15; North Dakota,
Menoken, May 7; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, April 24, Pilot Mound, May 1, and
Margaret, May 18; Colorado, Loveland, April 6, Denver, April 26, and
Durango, April 30; Wyoming, Cheyenne, May 2, and Lake Como, May 5;
central and northern California, Alameda, March 15, Palo Alto, April 17,
Ballona, April 19, and Stockton, April 20; Oregon, Malheur Lake, April
20; Washington, Menlo, May 1, and Fort Steilacoom, May 5; British
Columbia, Courtenay, April 28, and Chilliwack, May 8; and Alaska, Craig,
May 2, Kuiu Island, May 3, Fort Kenai, May 4, and St. Michael, May 20.
Late dates of spring departure are: Louisiana, New Orleans, March 20;
Texas, Corpus Christi, April 20; Chihuahua, Lake Palomas, April 9;
Lower California, Gardner's Lagoon, April 19; and southern California,
Santa Barbara, May 2.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of fall arrival are: British Columbia,
Courtenay, July 7, and Okanagan Landing, July 19; California, Balboa
Bay, July 6, Santa Barbara, July 18, and Fresno, August 6; Lower
California, San Quentin, August 10, and San Jose del Cabo, August 28;
Tehuantepec, San Mateo, August 12; Montana, Billings, July 31; Utah,
Provo River, July 24; Saskatchewan, Hay Creek, July 3; Colorado, Barr,
July 5, and Denver, July 24; North Dakota, Devil's Lake, July 20, and
Mouse River, August 10; Texas, Brownsville, July 11; New York, Long
Island, July 16; North Carolina, Pea and Brodie Islands, July 7; and
South Carolina, near Charleston, July 20.
Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia, Chilliwack, October
29; Washington, Seattle, October 9, and Point Chehalis, October 19;
northern and central California, Easton, October 18, Alameda, October
29, and Stockton, November 5; Wyoming, Hutton's Lakes, October 14;
Colorado, Denver, October 3; Manitoba, Margaret, October 10; South
Dakota, Harrison, November 2; Nebraska, Valentine, October 28; Kansas,
Lawrence, October 3; Minnesota, St. Vincent, October 9; Missouri, St.
Louis, October 28; New York, Long Island, November 2; and South
Carolina, September 10.
_Casual records._--Occurrences of the long-billed dowitcher outside of
its normal range must, of necessity be based upon the evidence of
specimens, as it is frequently confused with the more common dowitcher
of the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Florida. Seven were collected in
the District of Columbia in April, 1884; one at North Haven,
Connecticut, August 5, 1886; Hamilton, Ontario, August 21, 1891;
Leighton, Alabama, May 15, 1891; Dauphin Island, Alabama (2), July 5,
1913; Detroit, Michigan, August 26, 1905; Yokohama, Japan, March 13; and
Yezo, Japan, October 13.
_Egg dates._--Arctic Canada: 18 records, June 6 to July 5; 9 records,
June 21 to July 3. Alaska: 17 records, May 29 to July 1; 9 records, June
3 to 19.
MICROPALAMA HIMANTOPUS (Bonaparte)
STILT SANDPIPER
HABITS
Strangely enough I have never seen, or rather recognized, a stilt
sandpiper in life. As it is often associated with the lesser yellow-legs
and so easily mistaken for it, I may have overlooked it. It is a rare
bird in the localities where most of my work on shorebirds has been done
and it does not seem to be very common anywhere. It is more common on
migrations in the Mississippi Valley than elsewhere, on its way to and
from its restricted breeding range on the barren grounds and Arctic
coast of Canada.
_Spring._--The spring migration is almost directly north from the Gulf
of Mexico to Great Slave Lake and then down the Mackenzie Valley and
other valleys to the Arctic coast. It is rare in spring on the Atlantic
coast. R. J. Longstreet writes to me that he saw three on May 4 and 5,
and four on May 8, 1925, in Volusia County, Florida. C. G. Harrold tells
me that it is a common spring migrant in Manitoba, "even abundant at
times, a flock of nearly 300 being seen in May, 1924, at Whitewater
Lake." A. G. Lawrence records it, at the same lake, as early as May 5
and as late as June 2; he calls it "uncommon to fairly common." At
Beaver Lake, in northern Alberta, William Rowan saw flocks of from 20 to
25 birds every day from May 20 to 28, 1924. P. L. Hatch (1892) says
that, in Minnesota, "they come in small flocks, and keep mostly about
shallow ponds, and along the smaller streams flowing through the
marshes," but he has "found them on the sandy beaches of some of the
larger lakes on several occasions." He says "they are shy and
exceedingly vigilant, making it no easy matter to get them."
_Nesting._--Comparatively little is known about the nesting habits of
the stilt sandpiper. Roderick MacFarlane (1891) found it "fairly
abundant on the shores of Franklin Bay, where a number of nests with
eggs and young were discovered. It is, however, very rare in the
interior, only one nest having been taken at Rendezvous Lake on the
borders of the wooded country east of Fort Anderson." A nest with three
eggs, found on June 22, 1863, is described in his notes as "near a small
lake and composed of a few decayed leaves placed in a depression in the
ground, partly concealed by a tuft of grass;" the female was flushed off
the nest and shot. The nest found at Rendezvous Lake is not described,
but one found at Franklin Bay, on July 6 or 8, 1865, containing four
fresh eggs, was "a mere depression in the ground, lined with a few
withered leaves and grasses."
_Eggs._--Four eggs is probably the usual number laid by the stilt
sandpiper. They are ovate pyriform in shape. The only eggs I have been
able to locate are the three sets in the United States National Museum,
collected by MacFarlane. J. H. Riley has kindly sent me descriptions and
measurements of these. In the set of four eggs the ground color is
"ivory yellow" with large irregular blotches and spots of two shades of
"mummy brown," and a few rather large shell markings of "hair brown,"
the latter mostly towards the larger end. The spots and blotches are a
little heavier towards the larger end, also, but in no sense do they
form a ring. Another set of two eggs is similar, but the spots and
blotches are much smaller, more numerous, and more evenly distributed
over the surface; some of the "mummy brown" spots are even becoming
scrawls. The third set of two eggs are like the set of four, except that
the ground color is "pale olive buff" and the "mummy brown" blotches are
on the average smaller. The measurements of these 7 eggs average 35.5 by
25.1 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes =36= by 25, 35 by
=26=, =35= by 25 and 36 by =24.5= millimeters.
_Young._--Mr. McFarlane (1891) says: "On one occasion we could not help
admiring the courage and ingenuity displayed by both parents in defense
of their young, which resulted in saving two of the latter from
capture."
_Plumages._--In natal down the stilt sandpiper closely resembles several
of the other species of tundra-nesting sandpipers. It can generally be
recognized by its relatively longer legs and by its longer bill, with a
broader tip. The head markings are also a little different. The
forehead, cheeks, and throat are dirty white, with a broad, black,
median stripe from bill to crown, another (loral) from bill to eye, and
a short one (malar) below it. The crown, back, wings, thighs, and rump
are variegated or marbled with black (predominating) and dull browns,
"tawny" to "ochraceous tawny," and profusely dotted with dull white
terminal down tufts; these dots form a distinct circle around the crown
patch, below which the whitish sides of the head are marked with
"ochraceous tawny." The lower throat is washed with pale buff, and the
rest of the under parts are white.
In the juvenal plumage in August the head and neck are streaked with
gray and whitish; the crown is dusky, with buffy edgings; the mantle is
brownish black and dusky, with "tawny" edgings on the blackest feathers
in the back and scapulars, and with pale buff or whitish edgings on the
rest of the mantle and tertials; the under parts are white, suffused
with pale buff on the throat, breast, and flanks; the wing coverts are
edged with pale buff or whitish; the upper tail coverts are white and
but little marked; the central tail feathers are dusky, edged with
white, and the others are white, margined with dusky. This plumage is
not worn long, for the postjuvenal molt of the body plumage begins late
in August and lasts through September, producing a first-winter plumage.
This is similar to the winter plumage of adults, but can be recognized
by the juvenal wing coverts, some scapulars, and tertials.
I have been unable to trace the first prenuptial molt of young birds,
which is probably accomplished in South America, nor have I been able to
recognize a first nuptial plumage. Possibly young birds may not come
north during their first spring.