TOTANUS. 165 



grayish white ; fore-neck plain white. Young : Back, scapu- 

 lars, etc., light brownish gray, the feathers margined with 

 paler, and with a subedging of dusky, in the form of an irregu- 

 lar line inside the whitish border ; these markings changed on 

 tertials into short, zigzag, oblique bars along the edge of both 

 webs; fore-neck, sides, etc., immaculate, as in winter adult. 

 Downy young: "Upper parts black and gray, with reddish 

 tinge ; forehead, sides of head, and whole under-parts white ; a 

 streak through the eye, a fine line along the forehead, a larger 

 spot on the crown, a few lines or spots over the arm, sides of 

 rump, and tail-down black, often mixed with reddish brown." 

 (MEVES, fide DRESSER.) Length 12.50-14.50, wing 7.00-7.80, 

 culmen 2.15-2.20, tarsus 2.25-2.65, middle toe 1.12-1.30. Eggs 

 1.95 X 1-39, dull brownish buif, spotted with Vandyke- and 

 madder-brown and purplish gray. Hob. Greater part of 

 eastern hemisphere, but only far northward during summer; 

 accidental in eastern North America (Florida) ? 



253. T. nebularius (GUNN.). Greenshank. 



d 2 . Bill very slightly or not at all recurved ; lower back and upper 

 rump grayish, spotted with dusky ; flanks and lower tail-coverts 

 barred with dusky. Summer adult : Above varied with blackish- 

 pale gray, and white, the first predominating, the last in the 

 form of spots along the edges of the feathers ; throat streaked 

 with dusky ; rest of lower parts (except belly) spotted or barred 

 with the same. Winter plumage : Above rather light ash-gray, 

 without the blackish, but with the white, spotting of summer 

 dress ; fore-neck, etc., much more narrowly streaked, and mark- 

 ings of other lower parts much sparser and less distinct. 

 Young : Similar to winter adult, but darker and more brownish 

 above, the whitish spotting tinged with light brownish buff. 

 Length 12.15-15.00, wing 7.50-7.75, culmen 2.20-2.30, tarsus 

 2.50-2.75, middle toe 1.35-1.50. Eggs 1.43 X 1-20, brownish 

 buffy, distinctly but very irregularly spotted with rich van- 

 dyke- or madder-brown. Hob. Nearly the whole of America, 

 but breeding only in the more northern portions of the northern 

 continent (south to northern Iowa and Illinois ?). 



254. T. melanoleucus (GMEL.). Greater Yellow-legs. 

 c j . Nasal groove occupying more than half the total length of the upper 



mandible ; exposed culmen much shorter than tarsus to base of hind 



toe ; wing less than 7.00. 



Plumage essentially similar, in all stages, to that of T. melanoleu- 

 cus ; legs also yellow in life; length 9.50-11.00, wing 6.10- 

 6.65, culmen 1.30-1.55, tarsus 2.00-2.15, middle toe 1.00-1.15. 

 Eggs 1.69 X 1-15, buffy (variable as to shade), distinctly (some- 

 times broadly) spotted or blotched with dark madder- or van- 



