192 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
This and the Lesser Yellowlegs are two of the best known waders in the 
state. They are often found associated in large flocks on their feeding 
grounds, but when 
alarmed commonly 
gather in flocks by 
themselves as they 
take flight. Their fa- 
vorite resorts for feed- 
ing are grassy or 
muddy pools, and 
they often collect in ; 
large numbers on sand-spits and sand-bars where they rest, preen their 
feathers, and feed listlessly here and there in shallow water. 
They are favorite birds with the gunner, who shoots them from a blind, 
attracting them to his decoys by means of the whistle, which they answer 
all too readily. Their ordinary call is a clear, mellow whistle, which can 
be heard at a great distance (at least a mile in favorable weather), and is 
written by Chapman as ‘“Wheu, wheu-wheu-wheu-wheu, wheu, wheu- 
wheu.” When answering the whistle, or when induced to return by the 
cries of their wounded or deserted comrades, they have a habit of floating 
quietly on extended wings for many seconds at a time, making a tempting 
mark for the gunner. They fly in rather compact flocks and eften as they 
turn, their lower backs or rumps look pure white although really spotted 
with black. 
This species is supposed to linger longer at the north than the Lesser 
Yellowlegs, and hence is called Winter Yellowlegs. As a matter of fact 
there seems to be little difference in the movements of the two species. 
They appear in Michigan in April, linger until the last of May, return again 
from the north in July, often by the middle, and remain through August, 
September, and occasionally well into October. It must not be supposed 
that any single bird or flock remains for any great length of time-in the 
same place, but flocks linger a few days in a spot, pass on to the south and 
are replaced by others of their kind. Probably the heaviest flights occur 
during the first half of May and through the month of August. 
It nests mainly north of the United States, but has been known to breed 
in northeastern Illinois (Nelson, Bull. Essex Inst. VIII, 128-129) and in 
southern Wisconsin (Kumlien and Hollister, Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 
49); however. there is no record of its breeding in Michigan. The nest is 
placed on the ground, in or near a marsh; the eggs are three or four, brownish 
buff, irregularly spotted with dark brown, and average 1.79 by 1.28 inches. 
Fig. 54. Leg and Foot of Yellowlegs. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Bill straight or slightly curved upward, the nasal groove extending less than half way 
to tip. Adult in summer: Upper parts mainly black or brownish-black and white, the 
white in streaks on head and neck, in bars and spots on back, scapulars and wing-coverts; 
rump and upper tail-coverts white or nearly so, with a few spots and bars of brown or black. 
Under parts mainly pure white, heavily spotted on lower throat and breast with black, 
the sides and flanks barred with black; tail barred with brown or black and white; primaries 
blackish, the outer one with a white shaft. Adult in winter: Similar but much lighter col- 
ored above; the head and neck mainly ashy gray, streaked with pale brown, the back, etc., 
olive brown, the edges of the feathers with alternate dusky and white spots; the lower 
throat, chest, sides of breast, and flanks more or less streaked and spotted with brown 
and ashy, but without distinct rounded black spots. Bill black or greenish black, legs 
and feet yellow. Length 12 to 15 inches; wing 7.50 to 7.75; culmen 2.20 to 2.30; tarsus 
2.50 to 2.75. ; 
The early spring migrants are variously intermediate in plumage between the winter 
