99 



of any true sportsman or bird student. This species does not seem as 

 numerous and is certainly more wary than the Lesser Yellow-legs; other- 

 wise this description will do for both. 



255. Lesser Yellow-legs, little tell-tale. fr. — le petit chevalier a pieds 

 jAUNEs. Totanus flavipes. L, 10-75. Smaller edition of the last species. 



Distribution. Breeds across the continent, in high latitudes. A common migrant 

 throughout eastern Canada but not breeding there within cultivated areas. 



256. Solitary Sandpiper, fr. — le chevalier solitaire. Helodromas solifarius. 

 L, 8-40. Upperparts dark, almost black, with a shght greenish lustre accented by com- 

 paratively few small white spots; underparts and throat, white; lower neck, breast-band, 

 and sides of flanks barred and striped with hghter shades of back colour; no tinge of 

 buff or other shades. 



Distinctions. Size and general coloration; the white, dark-barred, axillars are con- 

 clusive. 



Field Marks. Resembles both the Spotted Sandpiper and the Lesser Yellow-legs. 

 Distinguished from the former by the lack of a white hne on the spread wing and the 

 conspicuously white barring on the tail; and from the latter by size, and black instead 

 of white rump. 



Nesting. For a long time the breedmg habits of this species were unknown and the 

 problem of its nesting was not solved imtil it was discovered that it used the deserted 

 nests of perching birds in trees and bushes. The closely aUied Green Sandpiper of Europe 

 has the same habit. 



Distribution. Breeds northward from well within the hmits of cultivation; fairly 

 common throughout eastern Canada as migrant or breeder. 



SUBSPECIES. The Sohtary Sandpiper is represented by two subspecies in Canada, 

 only one of which, the Eastern Sohtary, the type form, occurs in the east. 



As implied by the name, this species is a rather solitary bird, being 

 found as single individuals and pairs rather than in flocks even in migration 

 time. It is a mud haunter and with the Spotted Sandpiper is the only 

 wader that is commonly seen about such small waters as drainage ditches 

 or along the edges of flooded woods. 



258. Willet. Catoptrophorus semipalmatus. L, 15. A large Shore Bird; upperparts 

 buffy-grey marked with darker; imderparts, white suffused with hght greyish buff; 

 barred and striped with darker on flanks, breast, and foreneck; rump white. 



Distinctions. Size, general hghtness and greyness of coloration, conspicuous white 

 wing-spot on primaries, white rump, and black axillars. The characteristic Sandpiper 

 bill will distinguish the Willet from the Black-billed Plover which has also these rump 

 and axillar details. 



Field Marks. In size it resembles the Godwits more than anything else, but ashy 

 greyness and the conspicuous white wing-spots are distinctive. 



" Distribution. Breeds to the south of us, originally from Virginia to Nova Scotia 

 in the east, and locally westward to the central parts of the prairie provinces. Now very 

 rare on the coast, irregular but shghtly more common in the Great Lakes region, and 

 fairly common to the west in parts of the prairie provinces. 



SUBSPECIES. The species is divided into an eastern and a western subspecies, 

 the latter based upon slightly larger size and greyer colour. The exact subspecific status 

 of the Great Lakes bird is not quite satisfactorily established. In all probability the 

 few that remaiQ in the Maritime Provinces are Eastern Willets, whereas those of the 

 Great Lakes may be the Western Willet, C. s. inornatus, or intermediates. Material 

 on hand is too scanty to make definite pronouncements and unless the species recovers 

 at least some of its original numbers we may never be able to satisfactorily locate the 

 range boundaries of the two forms. 



The Willet is another large and important species rapidly diminishing 

 in numbers, a reduction due perhaps largely to its southern breeding range 

 and inadequate protection. 



