638 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— LIMICOLM. 



244. 



TO'TANUS. (Ital. totano, some bird of this kind.) Tattlers. Bill longer than head, 

 straight or nearly so, if anything rather bent up than down, very slender, without expansion at 

 tip or furrow on culmen, the lateral grooves little if any more than half its length ; gape reach- 

 ing beyond base of culmen. Wings long, pointed ; tail short, even or little rounded, barred in 

 color. Legs very long and slender ; tibise much denuded below ; tarsi longer than middle toe 

 and claw, soutellate before and behind. Toes with decided basal webbing between outer and 

 middle toe, that between inner and middle slight. Legs green or yellow. Numerous species 

 of various parts of the world. 



Analysis of Species. 



633. 



Legs yellow. 



Length over 12 ; wing over 7 ; tail 3 or more ; bill over 2, bent up a little 

 Length under 12 ; wing under 7 ; tail under 3; bill under 2, straight . 



Legs greenish; size and form nearly as in T.me^cmoZeucus 



, melcmoleucus 633 

 . . flavipes 331 

 . . glottis 636 



T. melanolen'cus. (Gr. fie\as, melas, black; 'KevKos, leucos, white. Fig. 445.) Greater 

 Tell-tale. Greater Yellow-shanks. Long-legged Tattler. Stone-snipe. BiR 



634. 



Fig. 445. — Greater Yellow-shanks, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 



Straight or slightly inclined upward, not with regular curve, but as if bent near the middle 

 black or greenish-black. Legs very long and slender, chrome-yellow. Length 13.00-14.00; 

 extent 33.00-25.00; wing over 7.00, nearer 8.00; tail 3.00 or more ; bill 2.00 or more ; tarsm 

 about 3.50; middle toe and claw 1.70. Length from end of bill to end of outstretched feet 17 

 or 18 inches. $ 9 , adult : Above, blackish, more or less ashy according to season, everywhert 

 speckled vdth whitish, in a series of indentations along edge of each feather; the markings 

 spotty on the back and wings, streaky on the head and neck. A slight white superciliary line 

 Upper tail-coverts mostly white. Under parts white, the jugulum and fore-breast streaked 

 the sides and flanks, lining of wings and axiUars barred and arrow-headed with the color of thii 

 back. Tail like back, with numerous white bars, generally broken on the middle feathers 

 Primaries blackish, with black shafts, mostly with white tips ; secondaries and their coverti 

 the same, but their edges marbled, spotted, or broken-barred with white. The seasonal 

 changes of plumage are inconsiderable, consisting chiefly in the tone of the upper parts, more 

 blackish and white in summer, more gray and ashy in winter and in the yonng ; and in the 

 emphasis of the dark markings of the under parts. N. Am. at large ; in U. S. chiefly as a 

 migrant, and in winter ; breeds in high latitudes ; abundant, like the last a noisy, restless 

 denizen of the marshes, bays, and estuaries. 



T. fla'vipes. (Lat. flavipes, yellow-foot.) Lesser Tell-tale. Yellow-shanks. A 

 miniature of the last ; colors precisely the same ; legs comparatively longer ; bill grooved 

 rather farther, perfectly straight. Length under 12.00, usually 10.00-11.00 ; extent 19.00- 

 21.00; wing under 7.00 ; tail 2.50; bill always under 2.00, about 1.50; tarsus about 2.00; 



