192 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



This and the Lesser Yellowlegs are two of the best known waders in the 

 state. They are often found associated in large flocks on their feeding 

 grounds, but when 

 alarmed commonly 

 gather in flocks by 

 themselves as they 

 take flight. Their fa- 

 vorite resorts for feed- 

 ing are grassy or 

 muddy pools, and 

 they often collect in 



Fig. 54. Leg and Foot of Yellowlegs. 



large numbers on sand-spits and sand-bars where they rest, preen their 

 feathers, and feed listlessly here and there in shallow water. 



They are favorite birds with the gunner, who shoots them from a blind, 

 attracting them to his decoys by means of the whistle, which they answer 

 all too readily. Their ordinary call is a clear, mellow whistle, which can 

 be heard at a great distance (at least a mile in favorable weather), and is 

 written by Chapman as "When, wheu-wheu-wheu-wheu, when, wheu- 

 wheu." When answering the whistle, or when induced to return by the 

 cries of their wounded or deserted comrades, they have a habit of floating 

 quietly on extended wings for many seconds at a time, making a tempting 

 mark for the gunner. They fly in rather compact flocks and often as they 

 turn, their lower backs or rumps look pure white although really spotted 

 with black. 



This species is supposed to linger longer at the north than the Lesser 

 Yellowlegs, and hence is called Winter Yellowlegs. As a matter of fact 

 there seems to be little difference in the movements of the two species. 

 They appear in Michigan in April, linger until the last of INIay, return again 

 from the north in July, often by the middle, and remain through August, 

 September, and occasionally well into October. It must not be supposed 

 that any single bird or flock remains for any great length of time in the 

 same place, but flocks linger a few days in a spot, pass on to the south and 

 are replaced by others of their kind. Probably the heaviest flights occur 

 during the first half of May and through the month of August. 



It nests mainly north of the United States, but has been known to breed 

 in northeastern Illinois (Nelson, Bull. Essex Inst. VIII, 128-129) and in 

 southern Wisconsin (Kumlien and Hollister, Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 

 49); however, there is no record of its breeding in Michigan. The nest is 

 placed on the ground, in or near a marsh; the eggs are three or four, brownish 

 buff, irregularly spotted with dark brown, and average 1.79 by 1.28 inches. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Bill stniight or slightly curved upward, the nasal groove extending less than half way 

 to tip. Adult in summer: Upper parts mainly black or Inowiiish-black and white, the 

 white in streaks on head and neck, in l)ars and spots on hack, sc;ipulars and wing-coverts; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts white or nearly so, with a few spots and bars of brown or black. 

 Under parts mainly pure wliite, heavily spotted on lower throat and breast with black, 

 the sides and flanks barred with black; tail barred with brown or black and white; primaries 

 blackish, the outer one with a white shaft. Adult in winter: Similar but much lighter col- 

 ored above; the head and neck mainly ashy gray, streaked with pale brown, the back, etc., 

 olive brown, the edges of the feathers with alternate dusky and white spots; the lower 

 throat, chest, sides of breast, and flanks more or less streaked and spotted with brown 

 and ashy, but without distinct rounded black spots. Bill black or greenish black, legs 

 and feet yellow. Length 12 to 15 inches; wing 7.50 to 7.75; culmen 2.20 to 2.30; tarsus 

 2.50 to 2.75. 



The early spring migrants are variously intermediate in plumage between the winter 



