YELLOW-LEGS — SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 151 



TOTANUS FLAVIPES (Gmel.). 

 109. Yellow-legs. (255) 



A miniatxii'e of the last; colors precisely the same; legs comparatively 

 •longer; bill grooved rather farther. Length, under 12; wing, under 7; tail, 

 under 3 ; bill, under, 2 ; tarsus, about 2 ; middle toe and claw, and bare tibia, 

 each 1^. 



Hab. — America in general, breeding in the cold, temperate and subarctic 

 distiicts, and migi'ating south in winter to southern South America. Less 

 common in the Western than in the Eastern Province of North America. 



Nest, a slight depression in the ground, lined with dried grass or leaves. 



Eggs, thi'ee oi' foui', variable in color, usually clay color, blotched or spotted 

 with umber-brown. 



In color, haunts and habits, this species closely resembles the 

 preceding, but the difference in size serves at all times to distinguish 

 one from the other. Both are esteemed for the table, and they are 

 therefore sought for by sportsmen, and often exposed for sale in the 

 market. When one is wounded in a flock, the others raise a great 

 outcry, and remain near it so Ipng that their ranks are often still 

 further thinned before they move off. Alone, or in company with 

 the preceding, this species pays a passing visit to the shores of 

 Hamilton Bay in spring and fall. 



In some localities it is more numerous than the Greater Yellow- 

 legs, but both follow the same route. 



Coming into Canada from the Northern States in May, they pass 

 up north through the British possessions, but do not stop to breed 

 till they reach the far north. 



The Yellow-legs has been found breeding abundantly in the 

 Macfarlane and Anderson River regions, where its eggs were found 

 early in June. It is also known to breed at the mouth of the Porcu- 

 pine River, which empties into the Yukon in Alaska. In the fall it 

 is again seen in noisy groups, that become reduced in numbers at the 

 different points they visit on their way to their winter quarters, 

 which are said to be in the West Indies and South America. 



Subgenus RHYACOPHILUS Kaup. 

 TOTANUS SOLITARIITS (Wils.). 



110. Solitary Sandpiper. (256) 



Bill, perfectly straight, very slender, grooved little beyond its middle ; dark 

 histrous olive-brown, streaked on the head and neck, elsewhere finely speckled 

 with whitish ; jugidum and sides of neck, with brownish suffusion and dusky 



