Snipe, Sandpipers, etc. 



Noisy, hilarious chatterers, their shrill notes, four times re- 

 peated, coming from an entire flock at once, after the manner of 

 old squaws, these tattlers, that are always inviting kindred flocks 

 to join theirs, excite other birds to restless habits like their own, 

 and keep themselves well advertised in the marshes and about the 

 bays and estuaries where they feed. Yet they are exceedingly 

 vigilant in spite of their noise, and are the first to pass an alarm. 

 It is only by screening oneself behind a blind, and whistling the 

 birds within range of nothing more formidable than a field glass 

 and a camera, that the altruistic bird hunter may hope to study 

 the wary fellows. As a flock whirls about in wide, easy circles 

 before alighting, they appear to be yellow legged white birds. 

 Before actually touching the ground with their dangling feet, the 

 wings are flapped, then raised above the back to a point where 

 they meet a posture suggesting a scorn of earth then they are 

 softly folded into place. As the bird walks, it carries itself with 

 a stately dignity, yet the long bill turned inquisitively from side to 

 side detracts not a little from the general impression of elegance. 

 Wading up to its breast in shallow waters, or running nimbly 

 over the sand flats and muddy beaches, the yellowleg keeps its 

 bill almost constantly employed dragging worms, snails, and 

 small shell fish from their holes, probing for others, and picking 

 up tiny crustaceans swimming along the surface of the water or 

 crawling over the beach. 



It is a long excursion from Labrador to the Argentine Re- 

 public, yet birds hatched at the end of June at the north reach 

 South America in October, leaving again in March, and so enjoy 

 perpetual summer. 



Yellowlegs 



( Totanus flavipes) 



Called also: SUMMER YELLOWLEGS; LESSER TELLTALE; 

 TELLTALE SNIPE; YELPER; LITTLE CU-CU; LESSER 

 YELLOWSHINS; LITTLE STONE SNIPE, ETC 



Length 10 to 12 inches. 



Male and Female Coloration precisely as in the greater yellow- 

 legs. This bird is to be distinguished only by its smaller 

 size, and its proportionately longer legs. 



224 



