The New International Encyclopædia/Dowitcher

DO′WITCHER (corruption of Ger. deutsch, German, or Dutch duitsch, Dutch). A popular name for certain shore-birds, great favorites with gunners. They constitute the genus Macrorhamphus, are closely related to the snipes (q.v.), and are often called ‘gray snipe’ or ‘red-breasted’ or ‘red-bellied snipe.’ The bill is distinctly snipe-like, but the tail and feet are like those of sandpipers. Tvo species are recognized: both breed in high latitudes and winter in Mexico and South America, but during the migrations one species (Macrorhamphus griscus) is found along the Atlantic coast of the United States, while the other (Macrorhamphus scolopaceus) migrates through the Mississippi Valley and Western States. The dowitchers are about ten or twelve inches in length, with a bill two to two and a half inches long. The upper parts are chiefly black or blackish (in winter, brownish-gray), and the under parts dull pale rufous, more or less marked with black. These birds migrate in compact flocks which are easily attracted by decoys, to which the hunter calls them by imitating their notes. See Plate of Beach-Birds.