Chapter XXI: Introduction (20)

The greater yellow-legs at times catches killifish up to as large a
size as it can swallow, wading in water as deep as it can stand.
Having secured a fish, it manipulates same up its long bill and
into its mouth. Sometimes it catches a fish tangled in a mass of
fine water weed, and in this case may either fiddle with and
disengage it, or work it up to its mouth and swallow it before
disengaging the bill from the weed. I have seen an unusually large
fish, probably (_Fundulus heteroclitus_), worked up the bird's bill
two or three times and turned head first to swallow, stick at the
base of the bill, and drop into the water again. Finally, with a
great bulging of face and throat, the fish slipped down.
Satisfied for the moment, the bird rose and flew to the leeward end
of the pond hole where it had been feeding, alighted, walked up the
bank, and stood in a tuft of partly dry grass at the edge of the
water, quietly facing out into the breeze for some twenty minutes,
although all the time alert and watchful. In this sheltered
position it would not have been noticed unless known to be there.

Dr. Paul Bartsch (1899) found a greater yellow-legs in the Washington market whose throat was jammed full of top minnows. He says that many times he has "watched this bird wade out into the shallow water of the bars, moving along slowly with tilting gait, suddenly lower that long head and neck and proceed to run through the water at a speed which would have done credit to a college sprinter, quickly striking to right and left with his bill." Others have noted a similar performance.

I have occasionally seen greater yellow-legs on damp, grassy meadows where they were probably feeding on insects or their larvae, snails, worms, or crustaceans, all of which have been found in their stomachs. Lucien M. Turner refers in his notes to a bird he shot at the mouth of the Koksoak River, Ungava, on September 18, 1882, which had been feeding on the berries of _Empetrum nigrum_.

Three birds collected by Stuart T. Danforth (1925) had eaten exclusively animal matter: "The recognizable fragments were: Dragon-fly naiads, 65.33 per cent; aquatic Hemiptera (_Belostoma_ species), 22 per cent; fish scales (_Poecilia vivipara_), 6.0 per cent; Dytiscid larvae, O.66 per cent."

_Behavior._--The flight of the greater yellow-legs is quite swift, strong, and well sustained on the downward and sweeping strokes of its long, pointed, dark-colored wings. Its long neck and bill extended forward and its long, yellow legs stretched out behind give it a slender, rakish appearance which is quite distinctive. It usually flies at a good elevation and when traveling it often flies at a great height. It scans the ground beneath, looking for a suitable place to feed or searching for desirable companions. It responds readily to the call of its own species and will often answer an imitation of its notes from a great distance; sometimes when it is too far away to be seen. When coming in from a distance it usually flies in wide circles around the caller several times until it is satisfied that it is safe to alight. It then comes zigzagging or scaling down on down-curved wings and settles lightly near its would-be companions. On alighting it stands for a moment with its wings extended upward in a graceful attitude, folds them deliberately, gives a few jerky bows or upward nods, and then either begins to feed or settles down to rest. It is not very particular as to its companions; it associates freely with any of the smaller waders that frequent the mud flats, meadows, or shallow ponds; it seems to be particularly fond of the companionship of the teals when they are feeding in shallow water. It is not as gregarious as the lesser yellow-legs; it is most often seen singly or in small parties, but I have counted as many as 40 in a flock on rare occasions.

When walking on the ground its movements are lively and its carriage is graceful, though its long legs seem to give it a somewhat jerky gait at times. On its breeding ground it often alights on the tops of spruce or larch trees, or on bushes or dead stubs, on which it balances rather awkwardly. It is normally a shy and wary species; large flocks are very difficult to approach; but sometimes single individuals seem to be absurdly tame in the presence of other tame species or among decoys. Some good photographs of it have been taken at short range. William Brewster (1925) tells of one that he approached in the open to within ten feet and then fired his gun directly over it without causing it to fly. Mr. Nichols suggests, in his notes:

It would seem almost as though these birds drew an abstract danger
line, difficult to cross from the outside without alarming them,
but once inside which, man became to them a mere harmless item of
the landscape. I have had a greater yellow-legs, a bird of the year,
come to decoys (under the impression that they were others of its
kind) and as the water was too deep, alight and stand on one of the
decoys, recognizing in it a piece of wood, meanwhile being
remarkably tame, perhaps waiting for others of the flock (of
decoys) to take alarm. Is not this pragmatic rather than rational
philosophy which they possess, the weakness most in favor of the
gunner who hunts shore birds with decoys?

He also adds the following notes on behavior:

I have seen the greater yellow-legs preen its plumage in leisurely
manner without repeatedly dipping the bill in the water, as the
lesser frequently does. It reached far back over its shoulder,
lifted a wing slightly to pick under it, stretched its neck up to
reach the breast with its bill, and scratched its chin deliberately
with the right foot. On another occasion a bathing bird crouched
down in shallow water, ducking the head and at the same time
fluttering and splashing vigorously with the wings.

A resting bird stands at ease, neck hunched down, with slight
alert movements of the head. From time to time it may turn its
bill back and bury it in the feathers along the back with a little
shake of same, one eye at least exposed and open though blinking
sleepily. An interesting pose which may be assumed for two or
three minutes is with the bill resting diagonally downward across
the feathers of the breast. It may stand for a long time on one
motionless straight leg, inclined so as to bring the foot under
its center of gravity, the other leg raised and concealed by the
feathers.

Though a wounded lesser yellow-legs will sometimes dive and swim
under water, I have not seen the smaller species alight in spots
too deep for wading. The greater yellow-legs on the other hand does
so not infrequently. It swims gracefully with phalaropelike motion
of the neck, held erect, stern tilted up like that of a gull. In
shallow water over mud so soft and sticky that it made wading
difficult I have seen a bird launch itself forward, swimming, as
the easier method of propulsion.

_Voice._--Mr. Nichols (1920) has published the results of a detailed study of the vocabularies of the two yellow-legs, which are noted for the variety of their calls. He has recognized and described nine different calls of the greater yellow-legs, as follows:

(1) The yodle (a rolling _toowhee toowhee_, etc.) is commonest in a
flock from birds remaining in one locality, not traveling. I think
I have heard it from a single bird in the fog. It is
characteristically given in the air, generally with set wings, by
birds which seem to contemplate alighting. It advertises birds
tarrying in one general locality, and has probably the function of
_location_ notice. It is doubtless homologous with the gather call
of the spotted sandpiper with which it has little analogy.

(2) Loud ringing 3, _wheu wheu wheu_. The characteristic cry of
the species, spring and fall. It is commonly given by passing or
leaving birds. It advertises the species--and a change of policy
in the individual according to its loudness. Analogous with notes
of other species spoken of as _flight notes_ or identification
notes; occasionally heard from an alighted bird. This call is
subject to considerable variation, when heard from a bird about to
drop down and join others feeding it is comparatively low-pitched
and even, leaving or about to leave a feeding ground, highly
modulated.

(3) Four _wheus_, heard as follows, seem to have a rather definite
significance: low, hurried, descending, heard from a bird leaving
companion; short, clear, four, by a following bird; loud, four,
bird without intention of alighting, trying to flush decoys. This
may be called a _recruiting_ call.

(4) Twos (_wheu wheu_) seem to be characteristic of a _recruit_. A
"gentle" bird which comes nicely to decoys is apt to call in twos
when approaching and coming in.

(5) Rarely, in taking wing in the presence of an intruder, a
single bird utters a string of unmodulated _wheus_ which breaks up
into threes or fours as it goes off. This is likely a note of
_protest_, which would be more common in the breeding season.

(6) Conversational murmuring, from a flock dropping in, expresses
_companionship_ and confidence.

(7) Conversational _chup_ notes from birds about to alight, also
heard from birds alighted, moving about at ease. The _alighting_
note.

(8) Unloud _chups_ identical with the preceding but more hurried,
given by a small flock of birds as they take wing. The _flushing_
note.

(9) _Kyow_, common in spring, only rarely heard in southward
migration; probably associated with the breeding season; seems to
express _suspicion_.

Different renderings of some of the above notes have been given by others. Mr. Brewster (1883) describes a note heard on the breeding grounds as "an incessant _clack-clack-clack-clack_, which sounded very like the clatter of a mowing machine." He then goes on to say: "In addition to the cry already described, they uttered a rolling _pheu-pheu-phe, pheu-pheu-phe_, repeated a dozen times or more in quick succession; a mellow _pheu, pheu, pheu_, resembling the whistle of the fish hawk; and a soft, hollow _hoo, whoo, whoo_, very like the cooing of a dove. The latter note was given only when the bird perched on the top of some tall spruce."

_Field marks._--The greater yellow-legs resembles the lesser so closely in color pattern that the two can not be readily distinguished except by direct comparison in size. The bill of the greater is relatively larger, and it is rather more boldly marked. The voices of the two are somewhat different. Other characters are referred to under the next species.

_Fall._--Adults move off their breeding grounds at an early date and loiter along in a leisurely manner. The first migrants appear in the northern states in July, sometimes as early as the second or even the first week. Young birds come later; there is usually a heavy flight of them during the first half of October, and many linger in Massachusetts until the middle of November or later. Mr. Brewster (1925) says of the migration at Umbagog Lake, Maine:

"We often saw them arriving and departing by day, usually in the
early morning or late afternoon if the weather were fine, at almost
any time if it were stormy. When seen approaching from farther
north, they were commonly first sighted so high in the air that
they looked no bigger than swallows. After circling twice or thrice
over the lake on set wings, whistling loudly and volubly, they were
likely to pitch headlong into the marshes to feed and rest there
during the remainder of the day, if not for a considerably longer
period, provided no gunner happened to fare that way. Some,
however, kept straight on without stopping and perhaps without
lowering their line of flight below the level of the mountain tops
to the southward over which they were accustomed to pass."

Mr. Whitaker tells me that the last of the yellow-shanks move out of Newfoundland about the end of October; these are probably all young birds. And Edward S. Thomas sends me a record for Columbus, Ohio, of December 11, 1925. This bird well deserves the name of "winter yellow-legs."

Probably many migrate at sea, from Nova Scotia to the West Indies, for Capt. Savile G. Reid (1884) says that it is "more or less common" in Bermuda, "arriving early in August and remaining for a month or so," where it is "much in request among the energetic sportsmen."

_Game._--The greater yellow-legs is a fine game bird; I can not say as much for the lesser yellow-legs. Large numbers have been shot in past years. Prof. Wells W. Cooke (1912) says: "A hunter near Newport, Rhode Island, shot 1,362 greater yellow-legs in the eight seasons, 1867-1874; his highest score, 419 birds, was in 1873, from August 19 to October 19." Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) reports that "463 greater yellow-legs were sent from Newburyport and vicinity on one day, October 11, 1904, to a single stall in Boston market." I knew an old gunner who celebrated his eightieth birthday a few years ago by shooting 40 yellow-legs.

It is a pity that the delightful sport of bay-bird shooting, which was such a pleasant feature of our earlier shooting days, had to be gradually restricted. Hudsonian curlew, and black-bellied and golden plover and greater yellow-legs were all fine game birds. I could see no reason for cutting out the curlew, as it is well able to take care of itself; golden plover were sadly depleted in numbers and black-bellied plover and both yellow-legs were decreasing; perhaps it was wise to eliminate them all.

Those were glorious days that we used to spend on the marshes of Cape Cod. On the inner, or bay, side of Monomoy are extensive marshes, meadows, sand flats, and mud flats, 9 miles in length and nearly a mile wide in places at low tide. These were great feeding resorts for hosts of shore birds; and in the good old days, when there were shore birds to shoot and when we were allowed to shoot them, blinds were scattered all along the marshes and flats. On a dry sand spit or beach a hole was dug in the sand and seaweed was piled up around it high enough to conceal a sitting gunner; on a wet marsh a substantial blind was built of brush, with a seat in it for two men; in some places in the meadows, where the grass grew high, a box or a board to sit on was all the gunner needed. Wooden or tin decoys painted to imitate yellow-legs or plover were set up in the sand or mud, all facing the wind and within easy range. Here in a comfortable blind the hunter could lounge at ease, bask in the genial sun of early autumn, smoke his pipe and meditate, or watch the many interesting things about him, the rich autumn colors of the marsh vegetation, the ever-changing picture of sky and sea, the black terns and the swallows winnowing the meadows, the gulls and the terns over the sea and the flocks of small waders running over the mud flats. Suddenly he is awakened from his reveries by the well-known note of the winter yellow-legs and discerns a mere speck in the distant sky; he whistles an imitation of its note; the bird answers him and, looking for companionship, circles nearer; by judicious calling the bird is attracted within sight of the decoys and, after several cautious circlings, it sets its wings and scales down to the decoys, where it meets its fate. Perhaps a whole flock may slip in unexpectedly, wheel over the decoys and hurry away, giving the gunner only a hurried chance for a quick shot. Perhaps a curlew may fly over or a flock of beetle-heads fly swiftly by; the gunner must be ready for all such chances. There is an ever-changing panorama of bird life on the marshes, full of surprises and delights for the nature lover.

_Winter._--The greater yellow-legs has a wide winter range, from the southern United States, where it is comparatively rare, to southern South America, where most of the birds seem to go. W. H. Hudson (1920) says:

The greater yellow-legs is best known as an Arctic-American
species, descending south during migration, and arriving in La
Plata at the end of September or early in October, singly or in
pairs, and sometimes in small flocks. Without ever being abundant
the bird is quite common, and one can seldom approach a pool or
marsh on the pampas without seeing one or more individuals wading
near the margin, and hearing their powerful alarm cry--a long,
clear note repeated three times. These summer visitors leave us in
March, and then, oddly enough, others arrive, presumably from the
south to winter on the pampas, and remain from April to August.
Thus, notwithstanding that the yellow-shanks does not breed on the
pampas, we have it with us all the year 'round.

Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) saw it in Paraguay as early as September 8 and in Chile as late as April 26. He writes:

After their arrival in September greater yellow-legs were
distributed throughout the open pampa wherever shallow ponds
offered suitable feeding places. Occasionally 10 or 20 gathered in
a flock, especially when northward migration was under way in March
and April, but when on their wintering grounds it was usual to find
two or three in company, seldom more. They are rather silent during
the winter season but when the northward journey begins are as
noisy as is their custom in the north. The species is large so that
it is attractive to pot hunters and many are killed. I saw a number
of crippled birds during the last two months of my stay in
Argentina and consider that it is these injured individuals, unable
to perform the necessary flight, or without desire to do so from
their injuries, that are recorded on the pampas from May to August
when all should be in the Northern Hemisphere. Reports of their
breeding in Argentina, based on the presence of these laggards in
migration are wholly unauthenticated.

I am inclined to think that most of the birds that remain in the South from April to September are one-year-old birds which are not ready to breed.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--North and South America.

_Breeding range._--The breeding range of the greater yellow-legs extends north to Alaska (Bethel); British Columbia (Fort St. James); Mackenzie (Peel River); Alberta (Island Lake); Manitoba (Kalcoala); Labrador (Whale River and Hopedale); and Newfoundland (Gaff Topsail). East to Newfoundland (Gaff Topsail). South to Newfoundland (Gaff Topsail); Quebec (Natashquan River, Anticosti Island, and near Mt. Laurier); probably formerly Illinois (Evanston); and British Columbia (Clinton). West to British Columbia (Clinton, Fort George, and Fort St. James).

They also appear to occur in summer with more or less regularity north to Alaska (St. Paul Island, Bethel, and Nome); Keewatin (near Cape Eskimo); and Franklin (Cumberland Sound); and nonbreeding specimens have at this season been noted south to the Bahama Islands (Great Abaco); Florida (Key West, Sarasota Bay, and Ponce Park); Alabama (Leighton); Texas (Amarillo, Lipscomb, Pecos, and Corpus Christi); and California (Fresno, Santa Barbara, and Nigger Slough).

_Winter range._--North rarely to Washington (Dungeness Spit); rarely Arizona (Fort Verde and Bill Williams River); Texas (Tom Green and Concho Counties, Boerne, San Antonio, and Refugio County); Louisiana (Abbeville, Avery Island, and New Orleans); and probably Virginia (Hog Island). East probably to Virginia (Hog Island and Sandy Island); probably North Carolina (Corolla and Pea Island); South Carolina (Ladys Island and Frogmore); Georgia (Blackbeard Island, Darien, and St. Marys); Florida (Amelia Island, Daytona Beach, Miakka, and the Florida Keys); the Bahama Islands (Andros, New Providence, and Inagua Islands); probably Porto Rico; the Lesser Antilles (Antigua, Barbados, and Grenada); French Guiana (Cayenne); Brazil (Para, Cajetuba, Iguape, Pelotas, and Rio Grande do Sul); Uruguay (Lazcano, San Vicente, and Colonia); and Argentina (Buenos Aires, Azul, Carhue, and Bahia Blanca). South to Argentina (Bahia Blanca); Chile (Straits of Magellan, Valparaiso, Paposo, and Antofagasta); Peru (Lake Titicaca, Tinta, and Chorillos); Ecuador (Cuenca, Canar, and Quito); Colombia (Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena); Costa Rica (San Jose and Puntarenas); Guatemala (Lake Atitlan); Jalisco (Guadalajara); Sinaloa (Escuinapa); Lower California (San Jose del Cabo, La Paz, and San Quintin); California (San Diego, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, and the San Joaquin Valley); and rarely Washington (Dungeness Spit). Greater yellow-legs also have been reported as wintering on the coast of British Columbia (Macoun).

_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Maryland, Patapsco Marsh, March 26; Pennsylvania, Carlisle, March 19, and Erie, March 28; New Jersey, Cape May, March 18, and Camden, April 4; New York, Jamaica, March 20, Lowville, March 22, and Montauk Point, March 23; Connecticut, West Haven, March 25, and Fairfield, April 9; Massachusetts, Taunton, April 4, and Cambridge, April 15; Maine, Pittsfield, April 26; Quebec, Quebec, April 18, Godbout, April 26, Montreal, May 4, and Lake Mistassini, May 7; Missouri, Kansas City, March 2, Corning, March 19, and Jasper City, March 24; Illinois, Englewood, March 19, Tampico, March 22, and Lebanon, March 29; Indiana, Terre Haute, March 19, Indianapolis, March 22, and Vincennes, March 30; Ohio, Waverly, March 14, and Columbus, February 21; Michigan, Bay City, March 26, Ann Arbor, March 30, and Hillsdale, March 31; Ontario, Ottawa, March 25, Toronto, March 26, and Blair, April 10; Iowa, Storm Lake, March 20, La Porte, March 21, and Keokuk, March 26; Wisconsin, Delavan, March 30, Madison, April 3, and Milwaukee, April 10; Minnesota, Wilder, March 30, and Waseca, April 10; Oklahoma, Caddo, March 11; Kansas, Manhattan, March 11, Emporia, March 26, and Wichita, April 6; Nebraska, Falls City, March 22, Valentine, April 6, and Lincoln, April 10; South Dakota, Sioux Falls, March 27, and Harrison, April 7; North Dakota, Bathgate, April 15, and Grafton, April 19; Manitoba, Aweme, April 10, Ossowo, April 15, and Reaburn, April 16; Saskatchewan, McLean, April 29, and Indian Head, May 3; Mackenzie, Fort Simpson, May 16; Colorado, Barr, March 29, and Colorado Springs, April 10; Utah, Salt Lake, April 7; Wyoming, Fort Sanders, April 20, and Yellowstone Park, April 28; Idaho, Meridian, April 14, and Rupert, April 20; Montana, Great Falls, April 6, and Helena, April 9; Alberta, Onoway, April 13, Alliance, April 26, and Carvel, April 30; and British Columbia, Chilliwack, March 28, and Okanagan Landing, March 23.

Late dates of spring departures are: Argentina, Tucuman, April 5; Chile, Concon, April 26; Florida, Daytona Beach, April 10, Bassenger, April 16, Indian River, April 23, and Pensacola, May 2; Alabama, Leighton, May 15; Georgia, Cumberland, April 17 and Savannah, April 20; South Carolina, Chester, April 21, and Ladys Island, May 5; North Carolina, Lake Ellis, May 18, Cape Hatteras, May 20, and Raleigh, May 29; Virginia, Cobb Island, May 19, Wallops Island, May 26, and Cape Charles, May 27; Bermuda, June 5; District of Columbia, Washington, May 20; Pennsylvania, Erie, May 25, Tinicum, May 26, and Jeffersonville, May 27; New Jersey, Camden, May 25, mouth of Pensauken Creek, May 30, and Elizabeth, June 9; New York, Geneva, June 1, Orient Point, June 11, and Gardiners Island, June 18; Connecticut, Litchfield, June 9, Fairfield, June 12, and Hadlyme, June 15; Massachusetts, Marthas Vineyard, June 14, and Monomoy Island, June 16; Louisiana, New Orleans, April 27; Tennessee, Nashville, May 24; Illinois, Addison, May 23, and La Grange, May 25; Indiana, Richmond, May 20, and English Lake, June 3; Ohio, Columbus, May 27, and Berlin Center, May 27; Michigan, Neebish Island, May 20, and Detroit, May 25; Ontario, London, May 24, and Toronto, June 9; Iowa, Sioux City, May 19, and Keokuk, June 5; Wisconsin, North Freedom, May 24, and La Crosse, June 4; Minnesota, Lake Wilson, May 20, and Madison, May 31; Texas, Brownsville, April 28, and Point Isabel, May 14; Nebraska, Peru, May 15, Neligh, May 26, and Whitman, June 1; South Dakota, Forestburg, May 21, and Harrison, May 28; Manitoba, Reaburn, May 18, Winnipeg, May 20, and Whitewater Lake, June 5; Saskatchewan, McLean, May 18, South Qu'Appelle, May 27; Arizona, Fort Verde, May 3; Colorado, Durango, May 11, Barr, May 11; Wyoming, Laramie, May 29; Montana, Choteau, May 19, and Terry, May 27; Lower California, Hardy River, April 15; California, Santa Barbara, May 16, Los Angeles, May 19, and Buena Park, May 22; Oregon, Cold Spring Bird Reserve, May 12; and Washington, Clallam Bay, May 24.

_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival in the fall are: Washington, Tacoma, July 4, and Granville, July 7; Oregon, Malheur Lake, July 1; California, Fresno, July 5, Santa Barbara, July 18, and Dunlap, July 30; Montana, Milk River, July 24; Wyoming, Laramie River, August 4, and Yellowstone Park, August 17; Utah, Utah Lake, July 26; Colorado, Barr, June 27; Arizona, Fort Verde, July 29; Chihuahua, Tachaco, July 30; Saskatchewan, Crane Lake, June 22, and McLean, July 5; Manitoba, Franklin, July 17, Margaret, July 30, and Oak Lake, August 4; South Dakota, Harding County, July 19, and Forestburg, July 22; Texas, Corpus Christi, July 3, and near Amarillo, July 27; Minnesota, Hallock, July 19, and St. Vincent, July 20; Wisconsin, Madison, July 29, and Racine, July 30; Iowa, Sioux City, August 14, and Winthrop, August 20; Ontario, Toronto, July 28; Michigan, Jackson, July 19, Isle Royale, August 1, Sault Ste. Marie, August 7, and Ann Arbor, August 14; Ohio, Columbus, July 12, Pelee Island, July 24, and Dayton, August 2; Illinois, Addison, July 19, Chicago, July 23, and Rantoul, July 26; Louisiana, Louisiana Branch, August 16; Maine, Pittsfield, July 26; Massachusetts, Cape Cod, July 11, and Marthas Vineyard, July 22; Rhode Island, Block Island, July 9; Connecticut, Milford, July 28; New York, Montauk Point, July 10, East Hampton, July 16, and Rochester, July 18; New Jersey, Barnegat Bay, July 13, and Five-mile Beach, July 15; Pennsylvania, Erie, July 28; District of Columbia, Washington, July 24; North Carolina, Pea and Bodie Islands, July 22; South Carolina, Ladys Island, July 21, and Frogmore, August 8; Alabama, Leighton, July 22; and Florida, Ponce Park, July 12, Palma Sola, August 2, and Key West, August 20. The southern part of the winter range is reached early in September; Paraguay, Puerto Pinasco, September 8.

Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia, Comox, October 28, and Chilliwack, November 21; Nevada, Washoe Lake, November 6; Alberta, Fort Chipewyan, October 9, and Camrose, October 16; Montana, Great Falls, October 20; Idaho, Meridian, November 12; Wyoming, Fort Bridger, October 14, and Medicine Bow, October 24; Colorado, Denver, October 3, and Barr, October 29; Manitoba, Margaret, October 20, Oak Lake, October 27, and Aweme, November 5; North Dakota, Marstonmoor, October 27; South Dakota, Forestburg, October 22, and South Dakota, Forestburg, October 22, and Sioux Falls, October 29; Nebraska, Lincoln, November 14; Kansas, Emporia, October 12; Minnesota, Madison, October 22, St. Vincent, October 25, and Lanesboro, November 12; Wisconsin, Delavan, October 22, and North Freedom, November 8; Iowa, Emmetsburg, October 22, and Keokuk, November 9; Ontario, Ottawa, November 15, Toronto, November 19, and Port Dover, November 20; Michigan, Ann Arbor, October 22, Sault Ste. Marie, November 5, and Manchester, November 7; Ohio, Painesville, October 30, Columbus, December 11, and Youngstown, November 12; Indiana, Lafayette, October 21; Illinois, Addison, October 22, and La Grange, October 28; Missouri, Independence, November 7; Kentucky, Bowling Green, November 22; Franklin, Arctic Island, Cumberland Sound, September 14; Quebec, Montreal, October 25; Maine, Skowhegan, October 24, and Scarboro, November 5; Massachusetts, Dennis, November 1, Monomoy Island, November 12, and Marthas Vineyard, November 20; Rhode Island, Newport, November 4; Connecticut, Fairfield, October 31, and Portland, December 11; New York, Orient, November 12, Montauk Point, November 20, and Branchport, November 20; New Jersey, Elizabeth, October 30, and Five-mile Beach, November 7; Pennsylvania, Beaver, November 6; League Island, November 9, and State College, November 14; Maryland, Back River, November 13; District of Columbia, Washington, November 2; and Bermuda, November 10.

_Casual records._--The greater yellow-legs has been detected outside of the range above outlined on but one occasion, a specimen taken at Tresco Abbey, Scilla Islands, England, on September 16, 1906.

_Egg dates._--Newfoundland and Labrador: 9 records, June 9 to 20. British Columbia: 2 records, May 20 and 21.

TOTANUS FLAVIPES (Gmelin)

LESSER YELLOW-LEGS

HABITS

The lesser or "summer" yellow-legs is a smaller edition of the greater or "winter" yellow-legs, and both are quite similar in behavior. The lesser is more abundant and less shy, hence rather better known. The seasonal names, applied to them by gunners, have been well chosen, as the lesser comes to us in summer and the greater lingers with us almost into winter. Both have the exasperating telltale habit of arousing the neighborhood by their loud cries of alarm.

_Spring._--The lesser yellow-legs is a rare bird in New England in the spring. The main flight from South America passes through the West Indies to the Southern States and then northward through the Mississippi Valley to the breeding grounds in central Canada. I have seen birds in Florida as early as February 27; these may have been wintering birds, for the main flight there comes during the latter part of March. I have seen birds in Texas as late as May 17. C. J. Pennock's migration dates for Delaware run from April 23 to May 29, where it is a regular spring migrant. Long Island marks about its northern limit on the Atlantic coast in spring. It usually arrives in southern Manitoba about the middle or last of April; A. G. Lawrence sends me an unusually early record for Whitewater Lake, April 8, 1925. From the first to the middle of May it arrives on its breeding grounds in northern Alberta and farther north, as far as the limit of trees. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) writes:

This proved to be a common bird in the Kowak Valley. Its arrival
was noted in the vicinity of our winter camp on May 19, and from
that day on its presence could hardly be overlooked, for as one
approached their domains the yellow-legs would fly to meet him,
uttering prolonged, monotonous cries. Besides these notes of alarm
the males had a full, melodious warble, sung for minutes at a time
as they flew slowly about overhead. Their favorite haunts appeared
to be the meadows lying between strips of timber, especially if
there was a shallow lake or pond in the vicinity.

_Nesting._--MacFarlane recorded in his notes some 30 nests of this yellow-legs, found by him and his men in the wooded country about Fort Anderson and its vicinity from 1862 to 1866. He speaks of it as "a very noisy bird" that "will keep going before one, from tree to tree, for several hundred yards beyond its nest." One nest is described as "near a lake, a small hole in the ground, with a few decayed willow leaves underneath the eggs"; another nest was "about 150 yards from a lake, on a rising, thinly wooded piece of ground"; another was "on the face of a low hill, or rising ground, in the midst of a tuft of hay, or rather of a 'tête-de-femme,' made of a very few dead leaves in a depression"; others were "underneath or shaded by some stunted willows on the borders of a swampy tract, lined with a few withered grasses."

J. Fletcher Street (1923) has published an interesting account of the nesting habits of this species in Alberta, from which I quote as follows:

As Mr. Thomson had told us we found the chosen nesting site of the
yellow-legs to be on relatively high ground at an elevation from a
few feet to a possible 30 feet or more above the level of the
ponds. Invariably the nests were found not closer than 100 feet
from the water's edge and sometimes as far away as 200 yards.
Generally a sloping bank, a ridge or a level plateau was chosen for
the immediate nesting site. No nests were noted in the heavily
forested area; all of those secured in the region about Belvedere
being found among broken hills covered with burnt and fallen timber
with a second growth largely of low poplars, the burnt stubs
affording excellent perches for the birds. Therefore the assumption
would be that amid normal conditions the species would select
rather open and high woodlands with sparse, low undergrowth within
a reasonable distance of marshy or grassy ponds.

It is not until the full clutch of eggs is laid that the birds
show that degree of concern which leads to their undoing. Then
there is great excitement on the nesting grounds. The female bird
will fly about with drooping legs and tail, keeping up an
incessant _kip, kip_, and alighting upon near-by stubs. In this
the male will join her, but not to the same degree, frequently,
after the initial rally, flying away to the lake. His darker
breast markings and slightly larger size readily identify him. If
the observer retires and conceals himself the excitement of the
female will gradually subside, she will fly from stub to stub, at
length become silent, look about inquiringly and take a short
flight to the ground and run to the nest. After settling she may
be approached within 4 feet before flushing which she does with a
loud call of alarm. While on the nest she sits low and close.

The nest is a mere depression in the ground, lined with a few
leaves or a small amount of dry grass, the cup having a diameter of
3.5 to 4 inches and a depth of 1.25 to 1.50 inches. It may be
located next to a stub, along a prostrate log or in the open.

Richard C. Harlow, who collected with Mr. Street in the same region, tells me that this bird will sometimes scratch out several hollows within a radius of 50 or 75 yards and line some of them with dry aspen leaves before laying in the one selected. Three of the nests found by Mr. Harlow were close to or between fallen burnt logs and one was in a bushy situation in a clearing near the edge of some woods. The nests were lined with dry leaves of poplar and aspen and a few dry grasses. One set that he collected for me was at the base of a small bush on dry barrens, half a mile from water. Richard H. Rauch in the same general locality found a nest in what he calls an unusual location, 10 yards from the margin of a small lake in a very wet muskeg; the nest was a depression in the moss, lined with a few dry birch leaves.

_Eggs._--The yellow-legs lays four eggs, occasionally only three. These are ovate pyriform in shape and have a slight gloss. The ground colors usually vary from "olive-buff" to "cream-buff" and rarely from "honey yellow" to "cartridge buff," or from "light pinkish cinnamon" to "pinkish buff." The more richly colored eggs are often boldly and handsomely marked. Some are quite evenly covered with small blotches and spots; others also have large, irregular blotches and splashes, chiefly about the larger end and often with a spiral trend. These markings are in dark rich browns, "chocolate," "liver brown," "bay," and "chestnut brown," sometimes deepening almost to black, where the pigment is thickest. Many large underlying blotches and spots of various shades of "purple-drab" and "ecru-drab" are conspicuous and add to the beauty of the eggs. There is an albino egg in the national collection, creamy white with only a few small pale brown spots. The measurements of 51 eggs average 42 by 28.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =45= by 30, 42 by =30.5=, =39.5= by 29.5, and 41 by =27.5= millimeters.

_Young._--Incubation is shared by both sexes, but we have no information as to its duration. MacFarlane found a pair of yellow-legs with three recently hatched young "in a small watery swamp," where the young were able to conceal themselves in the short grass. Mr. Street (1923) says:

Young were found for the first time on June 4. Both male and female
at this time were highly excited, the female approaching within 10
feet of us. All the young had left the nest and had taken refuge in
the shade of a log to escape the burning rays of the sun. No
eggshells were found in the nest or near by. As we retired from the
immediate locality the female flew down to the ground and softly
"kipped" as if to rally the scattered young. On the succeeding day
a nest was found which at 10 a. m. contained one young and two
eggs. At 12.30 p. m. all the birds had hatched and had left the
nest, being found quite a distance away. One bird was walking,
readily indicating that the migration to the water must start
within a few hours of the time that the young are out of the eggs.

After June 6 all the same excitement that characterized the action of the adult birds at the nesting site was transplanted to the meadow lands. One uninitiated in the ways of the species might easily suppose that he was now upon the breeding grounds, for the young keep well concealed and are difficult to discover. Perhaps the exhibition of the adults at this time and the secretive habits of the birds during the early days of the mating have tended to keep the nesting habits of the lesser yellow-legs so long a mystery.

_Plumages._--In natal down the young yellow-legs is "pinkish buff" on the back, shading off to "cartridge buff" on the crown, to paler buff on the forehead and sides of the head and to pure white on the under parts; there is an indistinct frontal black stripe; the crown is heavily mottled with brownish black; a black stripe extends from the bill through the eye to the nape; and there are three broad bands on the center and sides of the back and large patches on the rump and thighs of brownish black.

Young birds develop rapidly, the juvenal plumage coming in first on the sides of the breast, scapulars, and wings. A young bird, taken July 10, is nearly fully grown; the crown and neck fully feathered, the breast nearly so, and the wings and tail nearly grown. In this fresh juvenal plumage the feathers of the crown are tipped with whitish, and those of the back, scapulars, and wing coverts are edged, tipped, or notched with pale buff to white.

Subsequent molts and plumages are similar to and very much like those of the greater yellow-legs. I have seen a number of birds in what I call the first nuptial plumage migrating northward; they may breed in this plumage. I have seen several adults molting their primaries in January and February.

_Food._--The favorite feeding grounds of the yellow-legs are on flat marshes near the coast, where the grass is short and where the high course of tides or heavy rains leave the marshes partially covered, or dotted, with shallow pools or splashes; away from the coast it is equally at home in wet, short-grass marshes, mud flats, shallow ponds and even wet places in cultivated fields. In such places it walks about in an active manner, usually in shallow water, but often up to the full length of its long legs, gleaning most of its food from the surface of the water or mud and seldom probing for it. During one season on Monomoy large numbers of yellow-legs frequented the drier parts of the meadows where the long grass had been beaten down flat by the storms of the previous winter. These places seemed to hold some strong attraction for them, for they repeatedly returned after being driven off. While we remained partially concealed in some clumps of tall grass, they frequently alighted near us and ran nimbly about over the flattened grass, darting rapidly in various directions to pick up food. The grass was full of minute grasshoppers and other small insects on which they were feeding. Evidently this food was unusually abundant that season, for I have never seen them there in any numbers since 1921.

Arthur H. Howell (1924) says that, in Alabama, "this bird feeds mainly on insects, including ants, bugs, flies, and grasshoppers, and on small crustaceans, small fishes and worms." Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1916) reporting on the food of four birds, taken in Porto Rico, says that "water boatmen found in each of the four make 57.5 per cent, and two stomachs contained nothing else. Crustacean remains, among which were several crabs, were identified in two stomachs, and make the remainder, 42.5 per cent."

The contents of nine stomachs taken by Stuart T. Danforth (1925) in Porto Rico were examined:

Dytiscid larvae formed 26.6 per cent of the animal matter, and
Hydrophilid larvae, 1.8 per cent; Bloodworms, 5.1 per cent;
Planorbia snails, 5 per cent; Fleabeetles 1.1 per cent; Hydrophilid
adults, 3.1 per cent; Dytiscid adult, 0.7 per cent; grasshoppers,
0.22 per cent; Bupestrid beetle, 0.55 per cent; Lycosid spider,
0.55 per cent; Notonectidae, 1 per cent; fish scales, 0.33 per
cent; Carabid beetle (Stenous sp.), 0.55 per cent; and other
beetles, 3.2 per cent.

_Behavior._--Either in flight or on the ground the two yellow-legs are so much alike that one is often mistaken for the other, unless a direct comparison in size can be made. William Brewster (1925) has expressed it very well, as follows:

The summer yellow-legs seems an exact counterpart of the winter in
respect to general appearance and behavior. It has the same firm,
measured step, when walking about in quest of food; the same
perfection of form and outlines, and grace of position, when
standing erect and watchful; the same habit of tilting its body and
alternately lengthening and shortening its neck with a bobbing
motion, when suspicious of danger and about to take wing. Its
flight, also, is essentially similar to that of its big cousin, but
somewhat slower and more buoyant, and hence not so suggestive of
momentum as that of the larger, heavier-bodied bird.

The lesser yellow-legs is more universally common than the greater and more apt to associate with other species of small waders, where it towers above them, as it stalks gracefully about on its long legs. It is more apt to be seen in large flocks, though the flocks are seldom compact and are usually much scattered, especially when feeding. And it is much less shy; although usually rather watchful and wary, not easily approached by a moving object, it is often surprisingly tame. If the observer is sitting down and motionless, even in plain sight, the birds will often fly back and forth over him or even alight on the ground near him.

I have often seen yellow-legs bathing, but Aretas A. Saunders (1926) describes it better than I can, as follows:

To do this a bird would go to the deeper, clearer water forming the
mid-channel of the pond, the same spot where the black ducks bathed
earlier in the morning. There it would sit down in the water,
remaining still for a time. Then it would splash water over its
back and wings, duck its head, and sit still again. When sitting
thus in the water its tail was usually half spread, and resting on
or just under the water surface. When the bath was over the bird
would stand up, stretch its wings and then preen, taking care to go
over carefully all the feathers of the back, wing, and breast and
scratching with its toes those portions it could not reach with the
bill.

He observed them fighting also and says:

Why they should fight at this season of the year, when the mating
season was over and the food supply seemed abundant enough for all
comers, is not easily explained. Yet it was a common thing to see
two birds stand facing each other with heads and necks up, and
bills tilted at an angle a little above the horizontal. After
eyeing each other a short time, one would dart at the other,
apparently trying to get its bill above its opponent's and strike
at the latter's eyes. The second bird would dodge back and then
return the attempted blow. They never actually struck each other,
and after several such tiffs one bird would crouch down in front of
the other, the yellow-legs' way of surrendering, and the other bird
would stalk off and pick a fight with some other that had been
peacefully feeding. Sometimes the fight varied from this form and
the birds lowered their heads at the beginning like roosters and
then fluttered up into the air as they went at each other.

The well-known bobbing habit is well described in some notes sent to me by Francis H. Allen, as follows:

Watched one on a slough for about an hour. Method of bobbing was to
raise the head by stretching the neck and at the same time lower
the tail, the whole body being held rigid, then lower the head with
the bill pointing somewhat downward and raise the tail to normal.
The body seems to turn on a pivot, but the lengthening of the neck
is an independent movement.

_Voice._--John T. Nichols has sent me some very elaborate notes on the varied calls of the yellow-legs, from which I quote as follows:

When on the ground in flocks the lesser yellow-legs is usually
silent. The same is true frequently of single birds coming in. In
the air it is more or less noisy and has two common, distinct
notes--_wheu_ and _kip_ or _keup_, which seem to be used rather
indiscriminately on various occasions and which vary into one
another. Wandering singles and small companies seem to use the
_wheu_ more, often double. The combination _wheu hip_ is frequent.
From large companies, especially in uncertainty, one may hear a
chorus of _kips_.
(1) The yodle probably corresponds in significance with that of the
greater yellow-legs--_location_. It is certainly its homolog and
scarcely, if at all, distinguishable from it. When a flock of a
half dozen lesser yellow-legs came to decoys, one bird alighted
first, had a low-pitched, unfamiliar _too-dle-hoo-hoo,
too-dle-hoo-hoo, too-dle-hoo-hoo_, before the others, still on the
wing, came back and alighted with it. Though probably of similar
derivation, this note was quite different from the yodle of the
species, and is probably more of a gather call (Long Island,
August).

(2) The _wheu_ is a regular _flight note_, likely advertisement. Generally silent birds alighted, sometimes call an occasional single _wheu_ (at such times particularly soft and mellow) before others drop in to join them, as if in welcome.

When double this note of the lesser yellow-legs is at times clear and full, difficult to differentiate from that of the larger species, and apparently likewise characteristic of a "gentle" bird, which will join decoys or others alighted.

(5) Whereas the _wheu_ note of the lesser yellow-legs is most frequently single and very seldom more than double, I have heard a variation of it in series from one of an alighted flock (Mastic, July 13, 1919), _hyu-hyu-hyu-hyu-hyu_, etc. Presumably this was in protest at my presence, corresponding to the similar note of the larger species.

(6) Soft, unloud murmuring of a flock in chorus, _yu yu yu_, etc., characteristically heard, as on August 10, 1919, from a flock moving leisurely over the meadows, after having been flushed, to shortly alight again, expressive of _companionship_ and confidence.

(7) When dropping down to alight, often hovering over decoys, a flock of lesser yellow-legs has soft short _cup, cup, cup_, etc., notes.

(8) At the instant of flushing almost the identical notes as above given hurriedly with more emphasis. This for the lesser yellow-legs is a rough analog of the cheeping note of the pectoral sandpiper, but in view of the different habits of the two species, can not be said to be strictly analogous with same.

(10) An unloud chuckle or series of short notes suggesting a very distant jack curlew, heard sometimes, not very frequently, when one or more birds take wing. Should probably be considered a flushing note or signal to take wing. Seems like the attempt of one individual to reproduce the preceding, which is often from several birds of a flock.

(11) The _kip_ is likely one bird calling to another close-by. It is typically a _flocking_ note, otherwise used almost exactly as is note No. 2. A variation, _keup_, with broader sound, approaching the _wheu_, expressing _attention_, is frequent. It has been heard from a flock of birds which had been resting and bathing, just before taking wing (Mastic, September 15, 1918).

(12) An infrequent note of quite different character from the lesser yellow-legs' ordinary calls is very high and clear, _queep_. It is subject to much variation, as _peep-quip, eep_! but is characterized by the high _ee_ sound. It has been heard from birds alighted, more particularly when their companions, alarmed or for some other reason, move on, and is thought of as the _tarrying individual's_ note. On August 17, 1919, I had picked up decoys preparatory to leaving a pool in the meadows when a single lesser yellow-legs came down to the pool calling a similar _kee-a_ on the wing, though I was in full view. It went on without alighting with _wheu_ notes characteristic of the species. Probably this was an individual which wanted to stay, from a small company which had left the meadow.

(13) Wounded birds, on being pursued and captured, have a harsh scream of fear, _chee-rp_. I have noticed this from birds of the year in southward migration only, not from adults under the same circumstances.

The above numbers indicate notes analogous with those of the greater yellow-legs, similarly numbered. Where the lesser has no notes analogous with certain notes of the greater, these numbers are omitted.

_Field marks._--There is no conspicuous character, except size, by which the lesser yellow-legs can be distinguished in life from the greater, unless one is expert enough to recognize the notes, which are varied and variable in both species. From nearly all other species it can be distinguished by its slender, shapely head and neck and by its long, conspicuously yellow legs. Its light, almost white, tail and rump contrast conspicuously with its uniformly dark back and wings; adults in worn nuptial plumage appear almost black on the upper parts; and there is no conspicuous white mark in the wings. The lesser yellow-legs is most likely to be confused with the long-legged stilt sandpiper in immature plumage; but the latter is somewhat smaller and has olive-colored legs instead of yellow. Adult stilt sandpipers, before they have entirely lost the barred under parts, can be recognized by these marks and by other characters described under that species.

_Fall._--Adult summer yellow-legs in worn nuptial plumage reach New England in July, thus deserving the name. My earliest date is July 11, but they are often abundant before the end of that month. The young birds appear about a month later; the loose flocks are made up of both ages in August; the adults usually depart before the end of August, and few young birds are left after the middle of September.

Mr. Nichols says in his notes:

It has frequently been remarked by old shore-bird gunners on Long
Island that the lesser yellow-legs and other species of shore birds
in southward migration are abundant early in the season, and then
after a period of comparative scarcity become again more numerous.
The explanation most commonly advanced for this condition is two
flights, first the old, then the young birds. It is unquestionable
that the first birds to come south are adults, but beyond that fact
this hypothesis will not hold.

The fluctuation in numbers of the shore birds on Long Island
during the fall migration period may best be explained by
supposing that the bulk of each species has a more or less
definite late-summer range to which it travels from the breeding
grounds and where, if conditions are favorable, it remains until
autumn. Before the main flight, birds of each species are mostly
adults, during it, mixed adults and young. To explain double
abundance of most species in southward migration by first the
passage of adults, then that of young, is pretty surely erroneous.
Where such double abundance does occur it is probably first birds
passing through, second birds stopping to feed.

There are not infrequent records of southbound lesser yellow-legs
on Long Island the end of June (June 24, 1922, my earliest at
Mastic), and I have seen a flock of 40 or 50 by July 10; July 31
is the earliest mention I chance to find in my notes of a bird of
the year.

There is probably a considerable and regular migration at sea for Capt. Savile G. Reid (1884) says that in Bermuda this is "the most conspicuous and noisy of the August arrivals. It has been seen as early as July 13, but usually disappears toward the end of September. Considerable numbers fall victims to the gun, as they are not bad eating."