99 
of any true sportsman or bird student. This species does not seem as 
numerous and is certainly more wary than the Lesser Yellow-legs; other- 
wise this description will do for both. 
255. Lesser Yellow-legs. LITTLE TELL-TALE. FR.—LE PETIT CHEVALIER A PIEDS 
JaAUNES. Totanus flavipes. L, 10-75. Smaller edition of the last species. 
Distribution. Breeds across the continent, in high latitudes. A common migrant 
throughout eastern Canada but not breeding there within cultivated areas. 
256. Solitary Sandpiper. FR.—LE CHEVALIER SOLITAIRE. Helodromas solitarius. 
L, 8-40. Upperparts dark, almost black, with a slight greenish lustre accented by com- 
paratively few small white spots; underparts and throat, white; lower neck, breast-band, 
and sides of flanks barred and striped with lighter shades of back colour; no tinge of 
buff or other shades. 
Distinctions. Size and general coloration; the white, dark-barred, axillars are con- 
clusive. 
Field Marks. Resembles both the Spotted Sandpiper and the Lesser Yellow-legs. 
Distinguished from the former by the lack of a white line on the spread wing and the 
conspicuously white barring on the tail; and from the latter by size, and black instead 
of white rump. 
Nesting. For a long time the breeding habits of this species were unknown and the 
problem of its nesting was not solved until it was discovered that it used the deserted 
nests of perching birds in trees and bushes. The closely allied Green Sandpiper of Europe 
has the same habit. 
Distribution. Breeds northward from well within the limits of cultivation; fairly 
common throughout eastern Canada as migrant or breeder. 
SUBSPECIES. The Solitary Sandpiper is represented by two subspecies in Canada, 
only one of which, the Eastern Solitary, the type form, occurs in the east. 
As implied by the name, this species is a rather solitary bird, being 
found as single individuals and pairs rather than in flocks even in migration 
time. It is a mud haunter and with the Spotted Sandpiper is the only 
wader that is commonly seen about such small waters as drainage ditches 
or along the edges of flooded woods. 
258. Willet. Catoptrophorus semipalmatus. L, 15. A large Shore Bird; upperparts 
buffy-grey marked with darker; underparts, white suffused with light greyish buff; 
barred and striped with darker on flanks, breast, and foreneck; rump white. 
Distinctions. Size, general lightness and greyness of coloration, conspicuous white 
wing-spot on primaries, white rump, and black axillars. The characteristic Sandpiper 
bill will distinguish the Willet from the Black-billed Plover which has also these rump 
and axillar details. 
Field Marks. In size it resembles the Godwits more than anything else, but ashy 
greyness and the conspicuous white wing-spots are distinctive. 
Distribution. Breeds to the south of us, originally from Virginia to Nova Scotia 
in the east, and locally westward to the central parts of the prairie provinces. Now very 
rare on the coast, irregular but slightly more common in the Great Lakes region, and 
fairly common to the west in parts of the prairie provinces. 
SUBSPECIES. The species is divided into an eastern and a western subspecies, 
the latter based upon slightly larger size and greyer colour. The exact subspecific status 
of the Great Lakes bird is not quite satisfactorily established. In all probability the 
few that remain in the Maritime Provinces are Eastern Willets, whereas those of the 
Great Lakes may be the Western Willet, C. s. inornatus, or intermediates. Materia] 
on hand is too scanty to make definite pronouncements and unless the species recovers 
at least some of its original numbers we may never be able to satisfactorily locate the 
range boundaries of the two forms. 
The Willet is another large and important species rapidly diminishing 
in numbers, a reduction due perhaps largely to its southern breeding range 
and inadequate protection. 
