THE WINTER YELLOW-LEGS 177 



of this color in the wing. Bill dusky: Legs 

 dull bluish; feet half-webbed, so that if the 

 occasion calls for it they can swim, though sel- 

 dom is this attempted unless hard pushed. In 

 length from fourteen to sixteen inches; extent 

 from twenty-four to twenty-six. 



This bird is very noisy and has a piercing, 

 far-reaching note from which the name of the 

 species has been taken. It is not easy of ap- 

 proach, but is wary and restless in the extreme. 



Its food is procured along the muddy edges 

 in the same manner and of the same sort as 

 makes the menu of the '^yellow-legs." The 

 nesting habits also are nearly identical with 

 those of Totanus. The eggs vary in number 

 from three to four, dull greenish in color, 

 brown-spotted. 



THE WINTER YELLOW-LEGS. 



(Totanus melanoleucus.) 



The ''Tell-tale," "Tattler," or ''Winter Yel- 

 low-leg Plover," as the various names are 

 given him in different localities where he is 

 known, is a common visitor in our New England 

 marshes, both on the seacoast and on the boggy 



