GREATER YELLOW-LEGS 325 



and with conspicuous underlying spots and blotches of various 

 shades of " purple-drab." An especially handsome set in my collec- 

 tion, one of the most beautiful sets of waders' eggs I have ever seen, 

 is richly colored in reddish browns. The ground colors vary from 

 " pinkish buff " to " orange-cinnamon " or " sayal brown." The four 

 eggs are heavily and boldly marked with large, longitudinal blotches 

 and splashes of rich browns, " claret brown," " mahogany red," and 

 " ba} 7 ," over underlying blotches, nearly concealed, of various shades 

 of " purple drab." The measurements of 51 eggs average 48.9 by 33 

 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 53.5 by 

 33.8, 51.8 by 35.1, 43.7 by 31.5, and 44.9 by 30.8 millimeters. 



Young. — We have no data as to the period of incubation or in 

 what way the sexes share it. Both sexes share in the care of the 

 young, which are brooded by the female for the first day. The 

 young birds referred to by Mr. Whitaker had left the nest on the 

 second day. 



Plumages. — In the down}' young greater yellow-legs a median 

 stripe of " bone brown " extends from the bill upwards, increasing in 

 width until it covers the whole of the occiput ; a wide loral stripe of 

 brownish black extends from the bill to the eye; the forehead and 

 sides of the crown are silvery gray; and the cheeks and throat are 

 silky white. The rest of the upper parts, hind neck to rump, are 

 variegated or heavity blotched with " bone brown," " wood brown," 

 and pale buff, the dark color predominating, especially on the rump. 

 The under parts are grayish white, almost gray on the breast. 



The juvenal plumage appears first on the scapulars and back and 

 then on the breast. Two young birds, about half grown on June 30, 

 are fully feathered on the mantle; the breast is well feathered, but 

 covered with white downy tips, the wings are half grown, but the 

 tail has not appeared; the crown is "bister," streaked with white; 

 the feathers of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts are " bister " or 

 " warm sepia," spotted or notched with " pinkish buff " or buffy 

 white, whitest on the upper back and most buffy on the scapulars; 

 the sides of the neck and upper breast are streaked with and the 

 flanks are barred with dusky; the rest of the under parts are white. 

 This plumage is worn for three months or more, well into October. 

 Young birds are in this plumage when they pass us on migration, 

 but the buffy tints have mostly faded out to white. 



Beginning in October a partial post juvenal molt takes place involv- 

 ing the body plumage, most of the scapulars, and some of the wing 

 coverts. This produces a first winter plumage which is similar to 

 that of the adult, but the general tone of the upper parts is grayer 

 and the feathers of the mantle are edged with dull white. The type 

 of William Brewster's Lower California race, frazan, and most of 

 his series of it are in this plumage. 

 54267—27 22 



