Shore-hird Shooting 409 



the small yellowlegs. Both varieties of this bird 

 have the habit, when on the ground, of tilting 

 the bodies if their attention is attracted. The 

 adult birds are killed along our coast until late 

 August, and are followed in September by the 

 young. These are often preceded by heavy 

 weather and wind. The first usually appear early 

 in the month, and are found until late in October. 

 They are easily called up within range and killed, 

 often coming back repeatedly to their wounded 

 until the whole flock is destroyed, or a single 

 survivor wings his way convinced. Flocks of 

 yellowlegs pass through the interior and follow 

 the watercourses south, wintering over a wide 

 area in South America, on the plains of the 

 Argentine Republic, and Patagonia. In localities 

 where they are not disturbed the birds quickly 

 become gentle, and pay little heed to man; tip- 

 ping their body in an inquisitive way, they watch 

 him for a minute, then feed along the edge of the 

 pond, rising when approached too close, to settle 

 a short distance off and go through the same 

 action. 



In Mexico, in May, 1901, we found them in 

 sparing numbers on the ponds and mesa lakes, 

 associating with the teal, sometimes with black- 

 necked stilt, paying little heed to our presence. 

 The return flight north is along the coasts, where 

 they are regularly taken every spring, but in 



