410 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFOBNIA 



and extremely long and slender yellow legs. The present species is 

 about one-half the bulk of the Greater Yellow-legs. Close examination 

 discloses slight plumage differences: Absence of paler markings on 

 under surface of flight feathers, greater extent of unmarked white 

 areas beneath, and darker top of head. From the Pectoral and Soli- 

 tary sandpipers, the Lesser Yellow-legs may be distinguished by the 

 slightly longer bill, by the much longer bright yellow legs, and by 

 the white upper tail coverts. From the smaller plovers, sandpipers, 

 and the phalaropes, it may be distinguished by the extremely long 

 and slender yellow legs, and, in many cases, by the absence of a white 

 band on the wing. 



The call-notes of the Lesser Yellow-legs are said to be similar 

 to those of the Greater but clearer and not so loud, though longer con- 

 tinued. Eaton (1910, p. 326) represents the usual call as follows: 

 "ivhetc, wheu-wheu-wheu-wheu, wheu-wheu, wheu." 



This species is an inhabitant of mud flats, sand bars and marshes, 

 in both fresh and salt water situations, where it wades about and 

 probes for, or gleans from the surface, the materials which comprise 

 its food. It is extremely wary and flies up at the distant approach of 

 any intruder, giving voice to its alarm in a tone that all inhabitants 

 of the marsh can hear and heed. This habit, which is shared with its 

 larger relative, has earned for it the name of Lesser Tell-tale or Lesser 

 Tattler, as applied by hunters when they are desirous of securing 

 finer game such as ducks or snipe. If wounded in the wing so that 

 flight is impossible the birds are able to run very fast and can make 

 their escape by running and hiding in grass or other marsh growths 

 (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 1884, I, p. 276). 



Dawson {1913b, pp. 204-205) records his experience in photo- 

 graphing some Lesser Yellow-legs near Santa Barbara in August, 

 1913, in part as follows: On August 16, ". . . there were eleven of 

 the Lesser Yellow-legs present on our Estero, and they were to be 

 found in varying numbers for about two weeks thereafter. They 

 proved to be rather timorous on all occasions but especially so when 

 incited to flight by the Killdeers, which were always bossing them 

 about. In moving to and fro across the Estero they usually paid little 

 attention to their own kind and were as ready to join a bevy of 

 Long-billed Dowitchers or Northern Phalaropes or the solitary Greater 

 Yellow-legs ... as to hunt up their proper fellows." 



The breeding season, in the northern summer home of the species, 

 extends throughout the month of June according to Cooke (1910, p. 

 58), eggs having been taken in Yukon and Mackenzie ou June 1, 15, 

 16 and 20, and downy young on July 1. 



The nest is a simple affair, usually a mere depression in the sur- 

 face of the ground, sometimes lined with dried leaves or grasses and 



