AVES CHARADRIID^: 315 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



Size. Adult male. (P. U. O. C. 781, Princeton, New Jersey, 14 Au- 

 gust, 1875. William E. D. Scott.) Total length, 9.5 inches. 



Wing, 6.75 inches. 



Culmen, 1.51 inch. 



Tail, 2.35 inches. 



Tarsus, 2.0 inches. 



The adult female does not differ appreciably in size from the adult 

 male. 



Color. Adult male breeding plumage. Very similar to the adult breed- 

 ing male of T. melanoleucus. 



The various stages of plumage just described (pp. 311-313) of T. 

 melanoleuczts are essentially duplicated in T. flavipes and in adult breed- 

 ing birds the likeness is striking except for the difference in size. The 

 legs and feet in the adult of T. flavipes are the same shade of bright 



FIG. 161. 



Totanus flavipes. Winter plumage. From the Princeton University Museum. One third 

 natural size. 



yellow. It does not appear essential to go further into details of seasonal 

 change which are almost identical with those of T. melanoleucus. 



The most obvious character in discriminating the two forms, aside from 

 their substantial difference in size, is in the relative proportion of the nasal 

 groove to the total length of the upper mandible. 



In Totanus flavipes, the nasal groove occupies more than half of the 

 total length of the upper mandible. In Totanus melanoleticus it occupies ' 

 less than half of the total length of the upper mandible. 



