400 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS (Gmelin): Greater Yellowlegs; Playero 

 Chill6n Grande 



Scolopax melanoleucus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 659. (Chateaux 

 Bay, Labrador.) 



Similar to the lesser yellowlegs, but definitely larger; legs bright 

 yellow. 



Description. — Length 320 to 340 mm. Differs from the lesser 

 yellowlegs, Totanus flavipes, only in decidedly larger size, as the 

 colors in breeding plumage, and in winter, in the two are the same. 



Measurements (from Ridgway, I.e., p. 332). — Males, wing 180- 

 198.5 (187.8), tail 71-83 (76.9), exposed culmen 52-61 (55.8), tarsus 

 57-68 (60.7) mm. 



Females, wing 180-197 (188.9), tail 71-83 (76.6), exposed culmen 

 53.5-58 (55.5), tarsus 55-62.5 (59.4) mm. 



Migrant from the north. Common; found on tidal flats, and 

 along the larger streams in the lowlands ; casually to such upland 

 localities as the lakes near El Volcan, Chiriqui. Present from August 

 to April. 



At Gatun Arbib and Loetscher (Auk, 1935, p. 326) recorded this 

 species from August 22 to 26, 1934. I saw half a dozen at Panama 

 Viejo on April 3, 1955. 



Greater yellowlegs, like the smaller species, are found singly, or 

 in small bands, on attractive feeding grounds. Their greater size 

 usually is evident, as in body they are nearly as large as the willet 

 that often are nearby. Their note in sound is like that of the other 

 yellowlegs but is decidedly louder and also is repeated several times 

 in rapid sequence. 



This species may be somewhat the more abundant of the two, as I 

 find that it is recorded more frequently in my field notes. 



TRINGA SOLITARIA Wilson: Solitary Sandpiper; Playero Solitario 



A small sandpiper that in flight appears dark above, with black 

 wings and white borders on the tail. 



Description. — Length, 200 to 215 mm. Breeding plumage, above 

 dark grayish brown; wings black; crown and hindneck streaked 

 indistinctly with whitish ; back, scapulars, and wing coverts with many 

 fine spots of white; upper tail coverts blacker, barred with white; 

 lateral tail feathers white, barred with black ; central pair black, with 

 white spots on the outer edges of the webs ; underneath white ; sides 

 of neck, foreneck, and upper breast streaked with grayish brown; 

 eyelids and supraloral streak white ; under wing coverts black, barred 



