456 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, compressed; wing long 

 pointed; tail short; legs long, lower half of the tibia naked; toes moderate, slen- 

 der, margined, the outer and middle united at base ; rump and upper tail coverts 

 white, the latter transversely barred with ashy-brown ; other upper parts ashy, many 

 feathers having large arrowheads and irregular spots of brownish-black, and edged 

 with ashy-white; under parts white, with numerous longitudinal lines on the neck 

 before, and arrowheads on the sides, of dark ashy-brown; axillaries and under 

 wing coverts white, with bands of ashy-brown, very indistinct in many specimens, 

 but generally well defined ; quills brownish-black ; tail ashy-white with transverse 

 bands of dark-brown, middle feathers darker; bill greenish-black; legs yellow; iris 

 dark-brown. 



Young. Entire upper plumage tinged with reddish-brown; neck before with 

 lines much less distinct and pale-ashy. 



Total length, about ten to ten and a half inches; wing, six to six and a half; 

 tail, two and a half; bill, one and a half; tarsus, two inches. 



Hob. Eastern North America ; western ? 



The Common Yellow-legs is well known on our coast as 

 a spring and autumn visitor. It does not pause here in its 

 northern migration, but passes at once to its breeding-home. 

 This is generally in high latitudes : there, early in June, its 

 nest is built and its young are reared. I am unacquainted 

 with its breeding habits and eggs, and can find no descrip- 

 tion of them in any book that I have access to. 



Early in September, it returns to New England, where it 

 frequents the muddy flats and marshes on the seacoast, and 

 penetrates into the interior. It is also sometimes quite 

 abundant in the fresh-water meadows and on the shores of 

 large ponds. I have killed numbers while Snipe-shooting : 

 and they are almost equally well-flavored with that bird. 

 They congregate in small flocks, fly rapidly, uttering a loud, 

 shrill whistle, which being imitated by the experienced 

 sportsmen, the whole flock is decoyed within shot ; and, as 

 they fly compactly, quite a number often fall at a single dis- 

 charge of the gun. 



Like the preceding, this bird is fond of wading about in 

 pools of water, where it secures for its food larvaB of insects 

 and smafl crustaceans. With one or two of our other 

 Waders, it has the peculiarity of keeping its wings open 

 and elevated after alighting, as if it were uncertain of the 



