Sbore-bird Shooting 407 



its eggs on the ground, usually close to the shore, 

 but sometimes taking an open spot in the woods 

 some distance from water. The female sits close, 

 and when the young are hatched both parents 

 are very brave and noisy. 



GREATER YELLOWLEGS 

 (Tot anus melanoleucus) 



Adult male and female in breeding plumage — Top of head, neck, 

 upper parts, slate-black, variegated with pale gray and white, 

 the latter in the form of spots along the edge of the feathers, 

 including the wing-coverts and tertials ; nape, grayish white, 

 with dusky streaks ; upper tail-coverts, white, irregularly barred 

 with dusky ; primaries, dark slate ; tail, white, all the feathers 

 barred with dusky ; middle feathers, gray ; cheeks, ear-coverts, 

 neck, breast, and sides, streaked and transversely spotted with 

 dusky ; throat and abdomen, pure white. 



Adult male and female in winter plumage — Upper parts, light gray, 

 without the black, but with the white spotting ; neck and jugu- 

 lum, finely streaked with dusky; breast and abdomen, white, 

 the flanks irregularly marked with gray. 



Young — Similar to the winter dress, but darker, the white spotting 

 tinged with buff; bill, black; iris, brown; legs and feet, deep 

 yellow. 



Measurements — Length, 13.75 inches; wing, 7.40 inches; culmen, 

 2.20 inches; tarsus, 2.45 inches; middle toe, 1.50 inches. 



Eggs — Four in number ; grayish white with dark brown spots, the 

 brown in various shades ; measure 1.75 by 1.30 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds from Anticosti and British Columbia, north to 

 Labrador and Fort Simpson, Mackenzie River, rarely south to 

 Illinois and Nebraska, and possibly Wyoming. Winters from 

 the Bahamas, Florida, rarely North Carolina, Louisiana, British 

 Columbia, and southern California, south to Argentina, Chili, and 

 Patagonia, to the Straits of Magellan. In both Louisiana and 

 Argentina it is found all the year, and has been thought to breed 



