250 NEW-YORK FAUNA — BIRDS. 



THE VARIED TATLER. 



ToTANUS MELANOLEUCUS. 

 PLATE XCIV. FIG. 212. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Scolopax melanoleuca, Gmelin. Spotted Snipe, Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol.2, p. 467. 

 »S. vocifera, Telltale Godwit. Wilson, Am. Ora. Vol. 7, p. 57, fig. 5. 



Tolanus mclanoleucus, Vieillot. Ord, reprint of Wilson, p. 61. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 324, 

 T. vociferus. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 389. Nuttall, Manual Orn. Vol. 2, p. 148. 

 T. id. Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 5, p. 316, pi. 345. Giradd, Birds of Long island, p. 252. 



Characteristics. Ashy brown, spotted with black and white : rump white. Tail white, 

 barred with brown : legs yellow. Bill entirely blackish. Length, 14-0. 



Description. Bill slender, straight, flexible, drooping at the tip, and 2'1 long. Tibia 

 bare for half its length. Tail irregularly even. Hind toe considerably elevated : a short 

 sinuate web between the outer and middle toes. Tertiaries emarginate. 



Color. Above blackish brown, margined with grey. Head and neck streaked with brown 

 and grey. Quills plain brownish black ; the shaft of the first white. Tail white, with from 

 six to eight angular brown bars. Beneath, the chin and upper part of the throat soiled white : 

 neck streaked with dusky brown. Abdomen white, with distant brown spots. Flanks, axil- 

 laries and under tail-coverts with angular brown bars. Winter, ash brown above ; breast 

 minutely mottled with zigzag brown lines. Bill black : legs bright yellow. 



Length,. 13-5-14-5. 



This bird is the Big Yellow-leg, or Winter Yellow-leg of our sportsmen. It appears 

 with us about the middle of May, and breeds from New-Jersey northwardly. Its principal 

 food consists of marsh insects, small shrimps, etc. It breeds chiefly in high latitudes, and 

 returns to this State about the end of August, where many remain (if the season is open) 

 until December. It extends through the interior to the plains of Missouri. Its geographical 

 range is from the Antilles to 60° north. 



