322 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the greater yellow-legs only half a dozen times." J. A. Munro tells 

 me that in southern British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, it is much 

 less common in spring than in fall; he has recorded it as early as 

 March 23. 



J. R. Whitaker writes to me from Newfoundland that he usually 

 sees the first yellow-legs during early May : " On their first arrival 

 the high tundras are still in the grip of winter and many of the 

 ponds on the lower levels are partly covered with ice." John T. 

 Nichols tells me that it is often abundant on Long Island in the 

 spring. He says in his notes: " In May, 1919, the waters of a certain 

 nontidal coastal creek, due to wind conditions, receded to an un- 

 precedented lowness, leaving broad muddy shores exposed where 

 almost always water stands. In what seemed almost a magical re- 

 sponse to the unusual water conditions, about 100 greater yellow- 

 legs assembled at the creek, the largest flock I have ever seen. 

 Alighted, the birds were silent, and without the nervous hikkuping 

 one associates with this species. Once all got up and circled in a 

 compact flock to return to the mud and shallows again." 



Courtship. — Mr. Whitaker writes to me : 



The time for nesting varies as much as 10 days between the few pairs which 

 frequent the lower levels and the bulk of the birds which nest on the high 

 grounds. On the lowlands a pair of birds will take up their quarters near the 

 place they intend to nest soon after their arrival and the cock bird may be seen 

 high up in the air uttering his nesting song. He will sometimes be so high 

 that he appears but a speck against the blue sky. His loud notes carry a long 

 distance and sound like tweda-tweda-tweda uttered quickly and continually 

 for quite a long time. 



Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1920) writes: 



The courtship song of the greater yellowlegs comes up from the marshes of 

 Essex County throughout the month of May, but is heard in greater volume 

 during the two middle weeks. It has a sweet and pleading character and 

 seems to say wull yer? wull ye)-? Although it differs from the flickerlike call 

 described in the original Memoir, which may be heard at the same time, it, 

 too, has a decided flickerlike flavor. It is heard throughout the day, but in 

 the evening until it is nearly dark the marshes often resound with the plaintive 

 callings. 



H. S. Swarth (1911) observed some greater yellow-legs on the 

 wooded islands of southeastern Alaska in April, of which he says : 



At this time the males were going through various courting antics, posing 

 with upraised, quivering wings, or running in circles on the sand bars around 

 the object of their attentions, and incessantly uttering the shrill whistle peculiar 

 to the species. 



Nesting. — Considering the fact that the greater yellow-legs is such 

 a common and widely distributed bird, remarkably little has been 

 published on its nesting habits, and comparatively few nests have 

 been found, in spite of the fact that it does not go very far north to 



