Teeters, Nods, and Bobs 191 



really demonstrative, it can prove quite annoying, for it usu- 

 ally sends the nearby birds into the air with a rush of wings 

 which takes them far from the place where the canoe lies. 

 Two shorebirds, the greater and the lesser yellow-legs, are 

 the other bobbing or teetering birds among the marsh vis- 

 itors. I never fail to see them in August. The two birds differ 

 little and in the field can be told apart only by size and by 

 their calls. The lesser yellow-legs approximates the size of 

 the killdeer while the greater is somewhat smaller than a 

 curlew. The smaller bird gives a call of two notes, but that 

 of the other always consists of at least three and occasion- 

 ally four. The quality is surprisingly mellow and pleasant and 

 most distinctive. Both the smaller and larger birds which I 

 saw this year landed on the same flat but on different days. 

 They lacked the activity of the killdeer and they showed 

 none of that bird's nervous traits unless the bobbing action 

 can be so classed. They bobbed, less frequently than the 

 killdeer, but fairly actively and regularly. I found them wary 

 and did not try to bring my canoe too close, as I knew that 

 they would burst into the air and leave. A more distant sta- 

 tion and the use of the binoculars was always more satis- 

 factory 7 . Once, w T hen I had beached my canoe and was watch- 

 ing some long-billed dowitchers, a lesser yellow-legs dropped 

 down on the little bar and joined them. Evidently it had 

 been the movement of the approaching canoe and not the 

 sight of me that had alarmed other yellow-legs, for this bird 

 ignored me and my motionless craft and fed, sometimes 

 within a yard or two, for at least half an hour. Then it took 

 a short tub and settled down to a sleep which did not break 

 when I pushed out my grounded canoe and left the spot. It 

 stood there, with half of one orange-yellow leg under water, 

 the other pulled up into its body feathers, the white of its 

 tail base showing plainly. It was a handsome and sturdy 

 bird, which gave no impression of any nervousness that 

 might provoke its seemingly spasmodic actions. 



