152 
WADING BIRDS. 
GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. 
TELL-TALE. TATTLER. STONE SNIPE. WINTER YELLOW- 
LEG. 
TOTAxNUS melanoleocus. 
Char. Upper parts dark ash varied with gray and white ; upper tail- 
coverts white ; under parts white, breast and sides with dark streaks. In 
winter the plumage is paler, the breast almost immaculate. Bill long and 
slender; legs long. Length about 14 inches. 
Nest. On the edge of marsh or open swamp ; a slight depression lined 
with grass and weed stems. 
Engs. 4 ; dull gray or dark buff marked with brown and lilac; 1.45 X 
1.20. 
The Greater Yellow-Shanks, or Tell-Tale, so remarkable for 
its noise and vigilance, arrives on the coast of the Middle 
States early in April, and proceeding principally by an inland 
route, is seen in abundance as far north as the plains of the 
Saskatchewan, where, no doubt, in those desolate and secluded 
marshes, far from the prying eye and persecuting hand of man, 
the principal part of the species pass the period of reproduc- 
tion, reappearing in the cooler parts of the Union towards the 
close of August ; yet so extensive is the breeding- range of the 
Tell-Tale that many continue to occupy the marshes of 
the Middle States until the approach of cold weather in the 
month of November, breeding in their favorite resorts on the 
borders of bogs, securing the nest in a tuft of rank grass or 
sedge, and laying four eggs of a dingy white irregularly marked 
with spots of dark brown or black, and which, according to 
Mr. Hutchins, are large for the size of the bird, and of similar 
markings in their Northern breeding-places. In Massachusetts, 
as with many other birds, the present is so uncommon a spe- 
cies that it may be considered almost as a straggler, arriving 
in autumn with the few flocks which touch at the coast of Lab- 
rador and Newfoundland, confining their visits, with Curlews, 
Godwits, and many other wading birds, chiefly to the eastern 
extremity of Cape Cod and Cape Ann, where multitudes of 
these birds transiently assemble in spring and autumn (partic- 
