AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



37- 



can slaughter in a day. These 

 birds furnish an easy mark for 

 this class. 



These men set out a number of 

 decoys on some favorite marsh, 

 then conceal themselves in a blind, 

 covered with marsh grass. When 

 a flock of Yellow-legs is heard, they 

 attract their attention by imitat- 

 ing their call. The birds see the 

 decoys, and executing a wide cir- 

 cle, they come up over them, 

 hover for an instant with their 

 long legs hanging downward pre- 

 paratory for alighting, and — 

 well, suffice it to say that several 

 of them never see their home 

 again, and another sportsman (?) 

 goes home to brag about his skill. 



After alighting an the beach, 

 these birds have a habit common 

 to several others of their species, 

 of raising their wings high over 

 their head before folding them. 

 They feed on shell-fish, worms and 

 insects, and may frequently be 



seen wading in a pool of water 

 several inches deep, in quest of 

 food. 



When alarmed, their flight is 

 generally swift and quite- erratic, 

 and it is quite amusing to watch 

 them as with their long neck and 

 bill extended before them, and 

 their long legs hanging behind, 

 they double and turn in their haste 

 to escape. 



Their eggs are occasionally 

 found in the central part of the 

 United States, and a few may 

 breed in the marshes in the north- 

 western United States, but the 

 greater number pass on to Labra- 

 dor. 



With their confiding nature in 

 allowing themselves to be so easily 

 decoyed, they would long ago have 

 been exterminated but for the fact 

 that they do not tarry long in one 

 place, but hasten on to their breed- 

 ing ground, where they are not 

 persecuted. 



GROUP OF WADERS 



