TOTANUS FLA VIPES. 



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European species, and such may be the case at times. I am inclined to think, however, 

 that these Solitary Tattlers generally place their eggs on the ground. The late Dr. T. M. 

 Brewer described an authenticated egg, in .the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, 

 taken about the middle of May, 1878, by Mr. Jenness Richardson, in Castleton, Vermont. 

 ■The bird which was sitting on the nest, was secured; thus the identification of the egg was 

 proved beyond a doubt, yet I think from the description, that the specimen wilf prove 

 unique among its kind. The eggs from which I have taken my description, came from Utah 

 and, as I have every reason to believe, are authentic. The Solitary Sandpipers make their 

 appearance in the North, about the first of INIay, remain a week or two, then pass to their 

 breeding grounds. They reappear early in September but shortly after migrate south. 



TOTANUS FLAVIPES. 



Lesser Yellowlegs. 



Totanus Jlavipes Vieill., Nouv. Diet.; 1816, 400. 



DKSCRH'TION. 



Sp. Cu. Form, slender. Size, medium. Tongue, long, thin, and horny, tapering gradually toward tlie tip which is 

 rounded. Membrane between toes, small. Inner marginal indentations, small, inclosed in adult. Leg<, very Ion"-. Cco- 

 ca, 1-20 long. 



Color. AduH. Above, dark-brown, lined, spotted, and banded, with white. Rump and upper tail coverts, white, 

 faintly handed with dark-brown. Tail, finely banded with white. Beneath, white, streaked on neck and breast and band- 

 ed on sides, with dark-brown. 



Youny. Similar to the adult, but more ashy above, and the streakings beneath are not as well defined. Bill, black, 

 iri^, browD, and feet, yellow, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 

 Known from the preceding species by the larger size and white rump, and from the succeeding by the smaller size, and 

 fnim all others by the colors as described. Distributed, in summer, Irom Labrador, northward; wintering from the Car- 

 olina?, soutliward. 



DIMEXSIOXS. 

 Average iiipasurenients of .specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 10'2.5; stretch, "JO- 12; whig,6'35; tail,2"5; 

 Mil, 1 42; tarsus, 2 15. Longest specimen, 10'80; greatest extent of wing, 21-01); longest wing, fiSO; tail, 2 75; bill, 1-60; 

 tar.sus, 2'25. Shortest specimen, 9'50; .smallest extentof wing, IU'25; shortest wing, 5'00; tail, 201); bill, r25; tai^sus, l-SK). 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND ECJtiS. 

 F.i;c;s, placed on the ground in a depression of the soil on a little grass. They are from two to four in number, deciii- 

 edly pyriform in sliape, varying from creamy t > ashy-buff in color, spotted and Motched irregularly with umher-brown of 

 varying shades, with the usual shell markings of lilac. Dimensions from llS.x I'HO to r20x \^fV^. 



HABITS. 

 Tlie clear whistle of the Lesser, or Summer, Yellowlegs, is hoard c;irly in July, for 

 these birds are among the first of their kind, to bid adieu to their northern home and pro- 

 coed southward. They are very abundant tind may often be seen flying in large, strag- 

 gling flocks, but they also associate with other .shore birds. They are fond of the manshes 

 and ;it low tide, mtiy be found feeding in the creeks which intersect the low lands; then 

 when the rising water forces them to letive their banquet, they will proceed to the dryer 

 spots to rest, when t'.iey will occtisionally catch a few grasshoppers, but gcner.ally remtiin 

 quiet, until the next ebb exposes their ieeding grounds, covered with ;i fresh supply of 

 small moUusks, ;iquatic worms ;ind mtiny other insects. I found these birds very common 

 from (he Carolinas, southwiird, even to Key West; and in the interior of Florida, they 

 were accustomed to wade in the shallow pools, in company with the Black-necked Stilts 



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