150 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Genus TOTANUS Bechsteix. 



Subgenus GLOTTIS Koch. 



TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS (Gmel.). 



108. Greater Yellow-legs. (254) 



Bill, straight or slightly bent upwards, very slender, grooved half its length 

 or less, black ; legs, long and slender, yellow. In summer, ashy -brown ; above 

 varied with black and speckled with whitish ; below, white; jugulum, streaked;, 

 breast, sides and crissum, speckled or barred with blackish ; these latter marks 

 fewer or wanting in winter and in the young ; upper tail coverts, white, with 

 dark bars; tail feathers, marbled or barred with ashy or white; quills, blackish. 

 Large. Length, over 12 inches ; wing, over 7 ; tail, 3 or more ; bill, 2 or more ; 

 tarsus, about 2^; middle toe and claw, IJ; tibia, bare, I J. 



Hab. — America in general, breeding in the cold, temperate and subarctic 

 portions of North America, and migrating south to Buenos Ayres. 



Nest, a hollow, lined with grass and leaves. 



Eggs, three or four, grayish-white, marked with spots of dark brown and 

 lilac. 



In spring, even before the ice is quite gone from the lakes and 

 rivers of Ontario, the shrill, piercing cry of this bird may be heard 

 overhead, as it circles round in search of son^ quiet, marshy inlet as 

 a temporary resting place. It is a ^ery watchful species, sure to- 

 observe the stealthy approach of the gunner, and give the alarm to- 

 the neighborhood, on account of which it has been dubbed the Tell- 

 tale. 



But a short stay is made in spring, for it passes quickly on to its 

 breeding place in the far north. As early as the end of August the- 

 birds again appear, toned down in dress and manners, accompanied 

 by their families. Many of them become the victims of misplaced 

 confidence by exposing themselves within reach of the ever-ready 

 breech-loader, which at that season of the year seems omnipresent in 

 the marshes. 



Like others of its kind, this species is an occasional visitor at the 

 Beach, near Hamilton, but the visits of all this class of birds at that 

 point are now of less frequent occurrence, and of shorter duration, 

 than in former years. 



In Manitoba and the North- West, it is observed migrating in 

 spring and fall, but is not known to breed. Mr. Nelson thinks it 

 breeds in Alaska, but he has not found the eggs. Audubon found it 

 breeding in Labrador. Its eggs are still scarce in collections. 



