96 SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 



GENUS TOTANUS. 



General Characters. — Bill longer than head, very slender ; leg-s and 

 toes long', slender, and yellow. Tarsus one and a half times as long as 

 middle toe and claw. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Bill nearly as long as tarsus, grooved for less than half its length. 



melanoleucus, p. 96. 

 r. Bill much shorter than tarsus, grooved for more than half its length. 



flavipes, p. 97. 



Subgenus Glottis. 



254. Totanus melanoleucus {Gwel.}. Greater Yellow-legs. 

 Adults in sununer. — Upper parts heavily mottled with black, gray, and 



white ; quills black ; upper tail 

 coverts Avhite, tail white barred 

 with gray ; under parts white, 

 ^,. J J,; spotted on chest and barred on 



sides with black; tln-oat gray, 

 streaked with dusky. Adults in icinter : upper parts dark gray, finely 

 spotted with white ; under parts mainly white, with fine spotting of gray 

 on chest and throat. Yoiuig : like adults in winter, but darker above and 

 with buffy instead of white spotting. Length: 12.15-15.00, wing 7.50- 

 7.75, bill 2.20-2.;:50, tarsus 2.50-2.75. 



Eemarks. — In flight the whole tail and rump appear white, and are 

 very conspicuous. 



Distribution. — Nearly the whole of America, breeding from Nebraska 

 and northern Illinois northward, and wintering from southern California 

 and the Gulf states southward to South America. 



Nest. — A slight depression in the ground lined with grass. Eggs : 3 

 or 4, grayish or brownish buff, irregularly spotted with dark brown. Few 

 nests have been recorded. 



Over most of the United States the greater yellow-legs are eon- 

 si)icuoiis in spring and fall among the flocks of migrating snipes and 

 sandpipers, not only about marshes and ponds, but on irrigated 

 fields where silvery minnows have been w^ashed over the land. As 

 they walk about, the long bill and neck, slender gray body, and 

 white breast are not markedly different from those of other sand- 

 pipers around them, nor is there much that is individual in the dove- 

 like motion of their heads and the occasional tilting of the tail ; but 

 when disturbed by your approach they rise in a close flock with 

 their liquid tweep, tu-iceep, and the white rump and tail, together with 

 their large size, mark them unmistakably. Like others of their 

 kind, unless too thoroughly alarmed they fly only a short distance 

 before wheeling and circling back. As they wheel and circle the 

 shifting whiteness of the flocks against the blue of the sky is enough 

 to rouse one's enthusiasm. As they get ready to alight they lean 

 over and look down, set their wings, and then come to ground, rais- 

 ing their wings gracefully over their backs for a moment after their 



