670 THE LESSER YELLOW-LEGS. 



partially obscured or blended. Length about 10.50 (266.7) • wing. 6. 11 ("155.2) ; 

 tail 2.36 (59.9) ; bill 1.46 (37.1 I ; tarsus 1.98 (50.3L 



Recognition Marks. — Killdeer size; like preceding species but smaller. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in Washington. Eggs: 3-4, huffy ( variable as to 

 shade), distinctly (sometimes broadly) sjiotted or blotched with dark madder or 

 X'andyke brown and purplish gray. A\. size, 1.69.x 1. 15 (42.9x29.2). 



General Range. — .America in general, breeding in the cold temperate and 

 subarctic districts, and migrating south in winter to southern South .America. 

 Less common in western than in eastern Xorth America. 



Range in Washington. — ( )ccasional during migrations. 



Authorities. — Rhoads, Auk. X., Jan. 181)3, p. 17. 



Specimens. — I'rov. 



FOR some unaccountable reason this species was not listed by Cooper and 

 Suckley, altho it had been noted as a bird "found in the Territory of the 

 Oregon" by j. I\. Townsend, in 1839. The fact is. some confusion lias 

 always e.xisted between this bird and its larger congener. T. iiiclaiwlcuciis, 

 and it is probably not so rare as its omission from state lists would indicate. 

 Ah' own records are "earh'" and therefore a little hazy. But Fannin notes 

 it as toleralily common thruout the province of British Columbia, and says 

 that it winters on the Coast, while Allan Brooks has taken it at Cbilliwhack 

 and Okanogan. 



Altho not solitary b)- preference, these little Tattlers are rather inde])end- 

 ent, and I have seen single individuals, or twos and threes, (juite as often as 

 larger flocks. They do mingle freely with other sjiecies upon occasion, but 

 when frightened from their feeding grounds are apt to dra\v off l)y them- 

 seh-es again. 



The must pri>minent characteristic of these Ijirds as the}' flutter aliont 

 fnini ])lace tn jjlace. or rise for extended flight, is the tail a])pearing al- 

 most white — fiir the cross-barring of the tail-feathers, while apparent 

 enough in the hand, is scarcely noticeable at a distance. T^'pon alight- 

 mg, the l)ir(l rem;iins a nKimenl witli wings held daintily aluft, and, if 

 reassured, folds them quietly, one at a time, like a yacht hauling in sail, 

 or simultaneoush', as the case mav be. < )n fniii it is often restless, bob- 

 bing or teetering with nerxmis a]i])rehensi(in. ;ind ser\ing frefpient notice i>f 

 its readiness for dejiarture. .\s tlm conscious, however, of its own jirepared- 

 ness, it will often suffer a nnich nearer approach than most other species 

 of waders. 



The notes of the Lesser Yellow-legs are ninch like t]K)se of the preceding- 

 species, but are lighter in character. 



