TOTANUS FLAVIPES : LESSER TATTLER. 237 



ber, though also frequently in August, both coastwise 

 and in the interior, in the autumn usually in small 

 flocks, with other birds of the bay and marsh. It is 

 commonly called the "winter yellow-legs," by the gun- 

 ners, to distinguish it from the smaller species next 

 to be noticed, to which the same description is ap- 

 plied. It is remarkable for its shrill, piercing cries, 

 reiterated whilst the bird is flying. These notes are 

 readily imitated, and the yellow-legs may consequently 

 be easily decoyed within the deadly range of the con- 

 cealed sportsman, or the less harmful purview of the 

 nervous tyro. 



LESSER TATTLER ; LESSER YELLOW-LEGS. 



TOTANUS FLAVIPES (Gm.) Vieill. 



Chars. A miniature of the preceding ; colors the same ; legs 

 comparatively longer; bill grooved rather more extensively, 

 perfectly straight. Length under 12.00, usually 10.00-11.00; 

 extent about 20.00 ; wing under 7.00 ; tail under 3.00; bill 

 always under 2.00 ; tarsus about 2.00. 



This species occurs with the preceding in autumn, but 

 it is not a regular spring migrant, and is quite scarce 

 with us during the vernal season. We are aware that 

 the New England local lists, which generally speak of 

 this bird in the same terms as those used in noting the 

 preceding species, do not support this statement ; but it 

 is a fact nevertheless. (See Hapgood, Forest and 

 Stream, xvii, Oct. 20, 1881, p. 226; and Maynard, B. E. 

 N. A., pp. 393, 394.) The bird is common, and well- 

 known to the gunners, who sometimes call it the 

 " summer yellow-legs," to distinguish it from the pre- 



