152 WADING BIRDS. 



GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. 



TELL-TALE. TATTLER. STONE SNIPE, WINTER YELLOW- 

 LEG. 



TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS. 



Char. Upper parts dark ash varied with gray and white ; upper tail- 

 coverts white ; under parts white, breast and sides with dark streaks. In 

 winter the plumage is paler, the breast almost immaculate. Bill long and 

 slender; legs long. Length about 14 inches. 



Nest. On the edge of marsh or open swamp ; a slight depression lined 

 with grass and weed stems. 



Ei^gs. 4 ; dull gray or dark buff marked with brown and lilac; 1.45 X 

 1.20. 



The Greater Yellow-Shanks, or Tell-Tale, so remarkable for 

 its noise and vigilance, arrives on the coast of the Middle 

 States early in April, and proceeding principally by an inland 

 route, is seen in abundance as far north as the plains of the 

 Saskatchewan, where, no doubt, in those desolate and secluded 

 marshes, far from the prying eye and persecuting hand of man, 

 the principal part of the species pass the period of reproduc- 

 tion, reappearing in the cooler parts of the Union towards the 

 close of August ; yet so extensive is the breeding-range of the 

 Tell-Tale that many continue to occupy the marshes of 

 the Middle States until the approach of cold weather in the 

 month of November, breeding in their favorite resorts on the 

 borders of bogs, securing the nest in a tuft of rank grass or 

 sedge, and laying four eggs of a dingy white irregularly marked 

 with spots of dark brown or black, and which, according to 

 Mr. Hutchins, are large for the size of the bird, and of similar 

 markings in their Northern breeding-places. In Massachusetts, 

 as with many other birds, the present is so uncommon a spe- 

 cies that it may be considered almost as a straggler, arriving 

 in autumn with the few flocks which touch at the coast of Lab- 

 rador and Newfoundland, confining their visits, with Curlews, 

 Godwits, and many other wading birds, chiefly to the eastern 

 extremity of Cape Cod and Cape Ann, where multitudes of 

 these birds transiently assemble in spring and autumn (partic- 



