BIRDS OF KANSAS. 191 



uine, are three poor specimens from Manitoba, collected by Mr. 

 E. Dickinson; dimensions: 1.75x1.19, 1.85x1.22, 1.68x1.18; 

 ground color brownish buff, distinctly but very irregularly spotted 

 with rich vandyke or madder brown; in form, elongate ovate. 



Totanus flavipes (GMEL.). 



YELLOW-LEGS. 

 PLATE XI. 



Migratory; abundant. Arrive in March, a few remaining un- 

 til the last of May; return in August, and tarry until early frosts. 



B. 540. K. 549. C. 634. G. 255, 88. U. 255. 



HABITAT. The whole of North America; breeding from north- 

 ern Illinois (seldom in the United States), north to within the 

 Arctic circle; south in winter into southern South America; ac- 

 cidental in Europe. 



SP. CHAR. "Very similar to T. melanoleucus, but smaller and more slender. 

 Bill rather longer than the head, straight, slender, rather compressed; wing long, 

 pointed; tail short; legs long, lower half of the tibia naked; toes moderate, 

 slender, margined, the outer and middle united at base. Adult, summer plumage: 

 Above, ashy, mixed with ragged blotches of black, this having a tendency to 

 form regular transverse bars on the secondaries and scapulars. Crown and 

 nape with longitudinal streaks of black on a grayish-white ground; upper tail 

 coverts pure white, with transverse bars of dusky; tail white, the middle feath- 

 ers ashy, and all with transverse, rather narrow, bars of ash. Primaries and 

 their coverts plain dusky black. Lower parts white, the jugulum and breast 

 densely streaked with blackish, and the sides marked with more transverse 

 markings of the same color. Winter plumage: Above, ashy, sometimes nearly 

 unbroken, but generally slightly variegated (especially on the scapulars and wing 

 coverts) with transverse spots of dusky, and whitish edgings and dots along the 

 margin of the feathers. Streaks almost absent from the head, neck and jugu- 

 lum, which are nearly uniform light ashy; the chin, throat and supraloral stripe 

 white. In other respects like the summer plumage. Young: Like the winter 

 adult, but the light markings above more or less tinged with pale brown or dull 

 ochraceous. 



"This species is exceedingly similar to T. melanoleucus in plumage, but differs 

 in the following particulars: In the summer adult the upper parts are more trans- 

 versely spotted with a less amount of black, while the lower parts are without 

 well-defined transverse spots or bars of black; in the winter plumage the head, 

 neck and jugulum are nearly uniform ashy, instead of distinctly streaked." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 10.50 19.50 6.00 2.55 2.00 1.45 



Female... 11.00 20.00 6.25 2.65 2.00 1.50 



Iris brown; bill black, with edge of base greenish yellow; 

 legs and feet bright yellow; claws dark brown. 



