Chapter XX: Introduction (19)

_Courtship._--There are few species the study of whose family life is attended with greater difficulties than the greenshank. In the first place it is an exceedingly wary and keen-sighted bird, and furthermore, it is not sociable during the breeding season, each pair nesting apart from its fellows in some of the wildest and most desolate country imaginable. In the British Isles its main breeding grounds are on the vast expanse of sodden moorland, interspersed here and there by lochs and "flows" (stretches of water-logged ground with black peaty pools), which cover a great part of the Scottish counties of Sutherland, Caithness, and Ross. Further southward it also breeds on suitable ground in Inverness-shire and other parts, but here the country is more broken and varied and there are big stretches of old pine forest and more modern coniferous plantations. In both classes of country observation is attended with difficulties. On the open treeless moorlands houses are few and far between, the climate is anything but inviting in early May, rainstorms are frequent, varied by squalls of hail and fogs, while in some seasons heavy snowfalls take place from time to time. On the other hand the country is open, with few hills of any size, and the direction of the birds' flight can be marked for long distances, while further south, though the extent of possible breeding ground is infinitely smaller, it is far more difficult to follow a bird in flight as it skims over a belt of forest or round a shoulder of a hill. So it is little wonder that of the actual courtship of the greenshank we have hardly anything on record. What little we know may be classified under two heads; the wonderful song flight of the male and the ritual of the courtship itself. The song flight may be seen even after incubation has begun, though possibly only in the earlier stages, and has been noticed by several observers. The fullest and best description is that of Mr. J. Walpole Bond (1923), which may be summarized as follows:

When singing, the greenshank rises fairly high--sometimes very
high--above the moor and starts by soaring, head to wind, of
course. It may then remain soaring, looking very hawklike indeed,
while it sings. Or else--and this generally happens--it varies the
performance by proceeding in a succession of downward, inverted
arcs of good size, though soaring is resumed for a few moments as
the summit of each curve is reached. In this case "singing" only
takes place on the downward portion of the curve; on the down
curve, too, the wings are sometimes vibrated very rapidly.
Sometimes also when the "song" itself is in progress the wings are
flicked up and down with measured rhythm.

The song itself is a musical and moderately fast repeated dissyllable _tew-hoo_, a rich note, harmonizing with the desolate surroundings in which bird life, except for an occasional meadow pipit, (_Anthus pratensis_) is often almost entirely absent. Walpole Bond also notes a twanging and metallic _chuck_, _dock_, or _duk_, sometimes heard after each quick _tew-hoo_, and questions whether this latter sound is vocal or caused by wings or tail. Personally I have not noticed the latter sound, perhaps because I have generally heard the song at a great height and always at some distance. It should be added that this performance is often kept up for long periods. Gilroy (1922) mentions a case when it lasted for twenty minutes, and though I have not timed the birds, I have heard it more or less continually for ten or twelve minutes, ending with a precipitate dive earthwards. Of the actual courtship ritual I have seen no published record. The birds arrive on their breeding ground early in April. On an occasion when a heavy snowfall had practically wiped out all early nests on the Caithness-Sutherland moors, I saw two birds on a little sandy spit by the side of a small loch. The male was evidently pressing his attentions on his mate and approached her with high flapping wings, showing the underside almost as the redshank does, and actually raising his wing over the hen until at last coition took place. Both birds remained quiet for some little time afterwards and then rose together and flew away, calling all the time.

_Nesting._--The information with regard to the nesting habits in all the older works is of the baldest and scantiest nature, but the last decade has seen a great advance in our knowledge and Mr. N. Gilroy (1922) in particular has published a fascinating little pamphlet on this bird in which his observations on over twenty nests examined between 1906 and 1922 are carefully coordinated, so that now the actions and movements of breeding birds are much better understood. The whole account is of the deepest interest, but as it extends to some twenty pages it is only possible here to give a short résumé of the present stage of our knowledge. The greenshank generally nests within easy reach of some small lochan, often a mere pool, to which the young can easily be led by the parents soon after they are hatched out. The nest itself is usually on dry ground. On the treeless moorlands of Southerland Caithness it is almost always made either close up against or actually on one of the many grey bits of rock lying amongst the heather. Exceptionally it has been found on the top of a hummock, but as a rule should be looked for within a few hundred yards of the feeding ground, sometimes quite exposed but difficult to see as the sitting bird exactly resembles in color the grey stones lying about and generally sits till almost trodden on. In the Inverness country the birds nest close to a mark, just as the Sutherland birds do, but here instead of a grey boulder it is usually a bit of bleached and dead pine, of which thousands of fragments lie scattered about. Exceptionally I have known a bird make use of an iron fence post as a mark. When a bird has been found standing about the edge of some tiny pool the probability is that his mate is sitting not far away, but the difficulty of finding her is vastly increased by the fact that the main feeding ground is generally by the side of a good-sized lake, which may be any distance from one to four miles away, and here one of the pair may spend the greater part of the day. Moreover, it is not uncommon to find that several pairs of birds use the same lakeside as their main resting and feeding ground. Even so, if the sexes changed duties at short intervals or behaved in exactly the same manner, it would not be a matter of great difficulty to trace a bird back to its nesting ground. But there seems to be considerable individual variation in this respect. There is, however, a very strong tendency to return to the same breeding place year after year. The classical case is T. E. Buckley's record of a nest found between two stones which was again occupied two seasons later presumably by the same bird, but there are innumerable cases where two or three nesting sites, used in as many years, lie within one hundred yards of one another. This makes the discovery of nests much easier if one can revisit the district for two or more years in succession. New nests are merely saucer-like depressions with a few heather stalks and some dead bents, but almost always some leaves of bay myrtle or bilberry in the hollow, and if the bird has begun to sit, some of its own small breast feathers.

_Eggs._--Normally, four in number, occasionally only three, while five have occurred; second layings usually consist of three eggs. Larger numbers, such as eight, recorded by Booth, are probably due either to two hens laying together or one clutch spoilt by weather and a second laid subsequently. They are pyriform in shape and wonderfully handsome, the ground color varies from stone color to warm buff, marked sometimes sparingly and sometimes freely with irregular spots and blotches of deep red-brown, as well as ashy or purplish shell marks. In most eggs the markings are heavier at the large end. The measurements of 100 eggs average 51.41 by 34.80 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =59.8= by =37.7=, =45.8= by 35.4, and 50.4 by =32.4= millimeters.

_Young._--That incubation is sometimes shared by both sexes is proved by the fact that both Walpole Bond and Seton Gordon have witnessed the change of duties and the latter has actually photographed the birds in the act of changing places. Yet Gilroy watched one bird from 10.45 a. m. to 7.50 p. m., which remained all the time at a loch side in Sutherland on May 16, although its mate was sitting on a clutch of fresh eggs. Evidently there is considerable individual variation in this respect.

_Plumages._--The molts and plumages are fully described in "A Practical Handbook of British Birds," edited by H. F. Witherby (1920), to which the reader is referred.

_Food._--During the breeding season the food consists chiefly of insects and their larvae, but tadpoles and frog spawn are freely taken and Oswin Lee records a pair feeding busily for nearly an hour in the evening on them, and small water beetles. Freshwater mollusca, such as _Planorbis_, are also taken and occasionally a small fish. Along insects the following genera of Coleoptera have been recorded: _Phyllopertha_, _Cneorhinus_, _Harpalus_, _Dytiscus_, _Gyrinus_, _Aphodius_, and _Ilybius_. Among Diptera, Tipula and their larvae; also _Notonecta glauca_ and _Lestes nympha_. In the autumn and winter a great part of the food is picked up on the coast and includes worms, lug-worms, crustacea (_Palaemon_, _Crangon_, _Hippolyte_, _Squilla_, and in large numbers Gammaridae).

_Behavior._--Although a large proportion of its breeding area is absolutely devoid of trees, the greenshank also nests in country intersected by belts of forest, and it is interesting to note that it perches readily on trees and makes good use of them as lookout posts. It is always wary and readily takes alarm, rising with loud outcry on the approach of danger. As MacGillivray notes, when searching for food it often wades out into the water until it reaches nearly to the tarsal joint and moves "with rapidity, running rather than walking and almost constantly vibrating its body." It is interesting to note the difference in the behavior of individual birds under similar circumstances. As a rule the incubating bird sits very closely and will sometimes allow herself to be touched before leaving the eggs. When flushed one bird will spring up and dart away with rapid flight and a single cry of alarm, another will for a minute or two fly about with deafening clamor, and in one case a bird dashed off but pitched about five yards away, yelping loudly and next minute flew straight at my head, with repeated cries of _Ip, chip, chip, ip, chip, chip_, etc. Just as it reached me it sheered off with its long green legs dangling, but returned to the charge again, repeating the process ten or twelve times, after which it settled on the ground and called vociferously, but after 10 minutes had passed flew away still calling. This behavior was, of course, quite exceptional.

N. Gilroy (1922) lays great stress on one note uttered when the bird is about to take its place on the eggs. This is a clear, piercing cry of _Tchook-tchook-tchook_, continually uttered till the bird settles down on the nest. It does not necessarily imply that the bird is rendered uneasy by the presence of a watcher and is apparently used even when the bird is quite undisturbed, so if one is lucky enough to be within earshot when it is uttered it forms a valuable clue to the position of the nest.

_Fall._--When the young are fledged the family parties make their way to the coast. Here they frequent the "pools of brackish water at the heads of the sand fords and the shallow margins of the bays and creeks" as MacGillivray says. The same writer describes its flight as "rapid, gliding, and devious, it alights abruptly, runs to some distance, stands and vibrates." By September or October at the latest it leaves its haunts in Scotland and makes its way southward along the coast line.

_Winter._--Although there are a few midwinter records even in the British Isles by far the greater proportion of these birds spend the winter from the Mediterranean southward and in southern Asia, the Malay Archipelago, Australia, etc. Here they are chiefly known as shore birds, only occasionally being found by the sides of inland lakes and marshes.

DISTRIBUTION

_Breeding range._--Scotland, chiefly in the north, but has extended its range of late years; Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, south to the governments of St. Petersburg, Pskov, Tula, Riazan, Kazan, and Ufa; across northern Asia to Kamchatka, south to latitude 55° in the west and 54° in the east.

_Winter range._--The Mediterranean countries and Africa, south to Cape Province and Natal; in Asia, India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, China, Hainan, Formosa, and Japan; Sunda Islands, Moluccas, Borneo, Java, Timor, Sumatra, Norfolk Island, Australia, and New Zealand.

_Spring migration._--From its winter quarters in South Africa it is recorded from Morocco (Mogador) in May and near Gibraltar in March, April, and May (late date May 22); passes Corsica in some numbers (May 8), arrives in Greece, where some also winter, at the end of March and in April, leaving in May (late date May 8); leaves Egypt in March; passes Cyprus in April and leaves the marshes of lower Iraq at the end of April, and also leaves India about the same time. In France it arrives late in April or early May, and in Spain has been observed as late as the third week of May, even in the south. First arrivals reach South Russia in March and pass through north Germany about mid-April, arriving on the British coasts from the middle of April onward and in south Sweden in the latter part of May.

_Fall migration._--While the spring migration is usually noticed only in small numbers, in pairs or even singly, the fall migration is better marked. From mid-July to late in November they may be met with on the British coasts, but most birds leave in September-October, passing through Holland in August and September-October; in North France (early date mid-July), and reaching Spain in September, crossing over the Straits of Gibraltar in October, and Malta in September (occasionally in June, July, and August, probably non-breeders). From Bulgaria it is reported in September (early date August 20); Montenegro, September (early date July 19); Cyprus, October 3; and Greece, arrives in September. Some birds reach the marshes of Iraq at the end of July, but mostly in August, and in India from the middle to the end of September, Pegu in October. Along the west coast of Africa they are noted from Mogador (September), Gambia (September), Gold Coast (September 13), Cape Province and Natal (September-October).

_Casual records._--Has occurred in Madeira, the Canaries, Azores, Mauritius (once). Cape Verde Islands, Florida (Audubon), Norfolk Island, Chile, and Buenos Ayres.

_Egg dates._--Some 39 dates from Scotland all fall in May. The earliest date for a full clutch is May 9. From May 9 to 16 (22 dates), 17 to 23 (11 dates), 23 to 28 (5 dates).

TOTANUS TOTANUS (Linnaeus)

REDSHANK

_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_

HABITS

The redshank is a recent addition to the American list. Two specimens have been shot near Angmagsalik, in East Greenland, the first on May 29, 1902, and the second on April 24, 1909, and were recorded by the superintendent, Johan Petersen. Unfortunately, neither bird was sent to Copenhagen, so it remains uncertain whether they belong to the typical race or to the larger form described by Lehn Schiøler as _T. totanus robustus_. Doctor Coues suggested (1897) that the redshank should be included in the hypothetical list of North American birds on the ground of a specimen said to have been taken on Hudson Bay and transmitted to the British Museum, where, however, it is not to be found.

_Courtship._--Fortunately we have very full accounts of the courtship and love song of this species from the observations of Messrs. E. Selous, W. Farren, and J. S. Huxley. Mr. Farren's (1910) account (incorporating much of Mr. Selous's notes) is as follows:

In courting, the male redshank approaches the female with his head
erect and his body drawn up tall and straight. As he draws near he
raises his wings high above his head for an instant as when
alighting on the ground after a flight. Then allowing his wings
gradually to droop he vibrates them and also his legs, the latter
very rapidly, with a motion suggestion of a soldier "marking time."
Mr. Selous (1906) has described this action, including the
vibrating of the wings and legs, as follows: "The male bird,
walking up to the female, raises his wings gracefully above his
back. They are considerably elevated, and for a little he holds
them aloft merely; but soon, drooping them to about half their
former elevation, he flutters them tremulously and gracefully as
though to please her." The female, as though unimpressed, turned
from him and continued to feed, which did not greatly disturb her
amorous wooer, as he also commenced to peck about as though
feeding. But very soon he again walks up to the female "and now
raising his wings to the fluttering height only, flutters them
tremulously as before. He walks on a few steps and stops. He again
approaches, and standing beside her--both being turned the same
way--with his head and neck as it were curved over her, again
trembles his wings, at the same time making a little rapid motion
with his red legs on the ground as though he were walking fast, yet
not advancing." This action occurs with fair frequency during the
period before egg laying. I have witnessed it several times, having
first been attracted by the raised wings of the male, rendered
conspicuous by the white secondaries and undersides, without which
I should probably not have seen the birds at all.

The habit of deliberately extending the wings upward on alighting, and thus exposing the light undersurface is one of the most characteristic actions of the redshank, and the white gleaming of the wing for a second or so before the wings are furled often enables one to identify the species even when the birds themselves are too far off to be recognized otherwise. Mr. Farren (1910) also adds:

Redshanks are fond of perching, either on horizontal branches of
trees, on posts or rails; in the Cambridgeshire fens I have seen
them displaying, as described by Stevenson, on the long low stacks
of freshly dug peat, and also on the ground. A male may be seen
running fussily about in front of the female, vibrating its body
and drooping its wings and often uttering a note similar to the
trilling song which accompanies the spring soaring flight.

J. S. Huxley (1912) gives a clearer and more complete picture of the courtship than any previous describer. The first stage consists in the pursuit of a hen by a male bird. Directly he stops feeding and runs after her, she runs away. Never in a straight line for any distance, but in a series of curves, often doubling back and sometimes describing a circle or even a figure of eight, while the cock follows her line a few yards behind. The cock's head is held sideways at an angle of quite 20 degrees with the line of his body in order to keep the hen in view, and his neck is stiffly stretched out. His pure white tail is expanded so that half is visible on each side of his folded wings. The chase often lasts for quite a long time, when the hen flies off leaving the male disconsolate, but sometimes she will stop and then the second stage begins.

The male may run on a yard or two, but soon stops.

He first unfolds his wings and raises them right above his back so
as to expose their conspicuous undersurface of pure white, somewhat
clouded or barred with grey. Then fluttering them tremulously but
keeping them raised all the time he advances very, very slowly
towards the hen, lifting his feet high in the air and often putting
them down scarcely in advance of where they were before. Meantime
as he steps on he stretches his neck a little forward, opens his
mouth, and gives utterance to a single continuous note, which is
changed into a long roll or rattle by the quick vibration of the
lower mandible. The sound is quite like that of a nightjar, but
higher and without any of the little breaks in the pitch of the
note. So he advances closer and closer, the hen usually remaining
motionless. Again at any time during this stage she may reject his
suit by flying off, but if she is going to accept him, she simply
stays still, often without moving a muscle the whole time. As the
cock gets closer, he gets more and more excited, vibrates his wings
more and more rapidly, at length so fast that almost his whole
weight is supported by them, though he still continues to execute
the high stepping movements with his feet. At last when just behind
the hen, he abandons the ground and flutters up on to her back on
which he half alights. The period when he is there on her back is
the third and last state of the courtship; it is very short and is
of course in a sense nothing more than getting into the proper
position for the actual pairing. Sometimes the hen, suddenly
repugnant, gives a violent jerk or sideways twist and shakes him
forcibly on to the ground, herself running or flying away.
Occasionally, however, she apparently is satisfied; she spreads her
tail diagonally and the cock with a quick and wonderfully graceful
motion, half supported all the time by his fluttering wings,
accomplishes the act of pairing. Then the hen gives the same
violent twist that I have just mentioned, he gets shaken off, and
they both begin quietly feeding, often side by side.

The love flight of the redshank is a very striking feature of the courtship and may be seen even after incubation has begun. J. S. Huxley (1912) describes it as follows:

A redshank rises up into the air, and there flies in a series of
switchbacks. Just before the bottom of each switchback he gave very
quick wing flaps, almost fluttering, one would call it, this made
him start up again. He went on fluttering or flapping till he was
about halfway up and for the rest of the upstroke of the switchback
he soared up with the impetus he had gained. His wings now were set
back and down; his neck and head thrown up in a beautiful proud
attitude; his tail spread out. Then he turned the angle of his
wings and glided down, still in the same attitude.

While flying thus he gives vent to what one may call a song--a series of pure, sweet single notes, never uttered on other occasions. The flight may be quite short, or may go on for several minutes. W. Farren (1910) writing of the same love-flight describes the song as "_Dhu-lee, dhu-lee, du-lee, du-lee, du-le, dle-dle-dle-dle_," the latter part becoming shorted and quicker as it nears the end, when it may be continued to a vanishing point.

It should be noted that the nightjar-like note already referred to is only used on the second stage of the courtship, yet it was audible at all hours of the day and night from which Huxley deduced that, as only a fraction of the courtships were consummated and the total number of birds did not exceed 50, each bird must pair several times a day.

The contests between the males seem to be usually of a formal character, but Selous (1906) describes one case where two birds fought with determination, jumping at one another and each attempting to seize the mandibles of the other with its own.

_Nesting._--The Iceland redshank has very similar habits to the ordinary European bird and haunts the swamps and morasses near the sea as well as the neighborhood of the larger lakes inland during the breeding season. Here it nests in colonies, varying in number from five or six to about twenty pairs. The nests are usually some distance apart, and generally well concealed, the sitting bird choosing a hollow where the vegetation grows thickest. In the British Isles the common redshank has greatly increased its breeding range during the last 25 years and has gradually made its way inland up the river valleys to many districts where it was previously quite unknown. Here it shares its breeding grounds with the lapwing (_Vanellus vanellus_), but the nest is not exposed like that of the latter but neatly hidden at the foot of some tall wisp of dead grass. The bird will even twist the dead grasses together to get the required protection and some nests are so artfully hidden that they can only be found by accidentally flushing the bird. In an East Anglian marsh a bird got up almost at my feet. There was a small flattened tussock of grass with long dead stalks growing up round it, but not a sign of nest or eggs, yet I felt certain that the bird had been incubating. On probing the solid-looking green tussock my fingers slipped into a hollow space beneath, where the four eggs were lying. The bird had been sitting in a neat cup of grass, completely roofed in above, and had slipped out by parting the growing grass at the side, which had closed up again. Exceptionally nests may be found, especially near the coast, quite exposed, but as a rule the bird takes advantage of every bit of cover available. On the level patches of short rich grass in the Dutch polders many pairs breed, and I have seen sixteen nests in a day. Narrow drains only a few inches wide are cut by the farmers in the turf, and here the grass is not cropped quite so close at the sides, so even under these disadvantageous conditions the redshanks avoid the open flats and prefer the partial concealment of the drain sides. In the great mud flats of the Marisma of the River Guadalquiver in South Spain, too, there is little in the way of cover, but the nests are never so exposed as those of the stilt or avocet. But wherever found, whether in Iceland, Holland, or Spain, there are the excited parents flying round and round with incessant and clamorous cries of _tu-e-too, tu-e-too_, alarming all the other breeding species and generally the first to give warning of danger.

The nest is substantially made of grasses and hollowed out by the pressure of the bird's breast and little in the way of extraneous matter is used, though occasionally, especially in open sites, quite a substantial cup may be built of stalks, grasses, bits of heath, moss, etc.

_Eggs._--Normally four, rarely five, but in second or third layings three are not uncommon, and cases of six, seven, and eight eggs in a nest have been recorded, probably due to two hens laying together, though in some instances they may be due to a full clutch being laid after an interruption by snow or floods. The eggs are pyriform in shape and when large series are examined, show considerable variation, the ground color ranging from creamy white, stone color, to pale greenish gray or light purplish red and warm reddish ochreous. They are freely blotched and spotted with purple brown or rich red brown and ashy shell marks; sometimes a dark hair streak at the big end. In some eggs the blotches are very large, but others are more uniformly marked with small spots. In a series they show much richer and redder coloring than _Vanellus_, _Himantopus_, or _Recurvirostra_, and lack the distinctive green ground of _Tringa erythropus_. The measurements of 36 eggs from Iceland average 45.39 by 31.75 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 49 by 32.4, 46.5 by =33.1=, =42.3= by 31.3, and =43.7= by =30.5= millimeters. The measurements of 100 British eggs average 44.56 by 31.56 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =48.4= by 32.4, 46.5 by =33.1=, and =41.5= by =28.5= millimeters. It would be seen from the above figures that Icelandic eggs (like the birds) are slightly larger than British specimens. The incubation period lasts 23 to 25 days and is apparently chiefly undertaken by the female, but J. Cunningham has shot the male from the eggs.

_Plumages._--The molts and plumages are fully described in "A Practical Handbook of British Birds," edited by H. F. Witherby (1920), to which the reader is referred.

_Food._--The redshank is a shore feeder to a great extent for the autumn months and often a riverside and marsh harvester in spring and summer. In the latter season its food consists chiefly of insects and their larvae, including Coleoptera (_Hyphidrus_, _Onthophagus_, etc.), Diptera, especially Tipulidae; also the larvae of Ephemeridae and Phryganeidae, spiders, worms (_Lumbrici_); and it is said small frogs and berries are also taken. In autumn crustacea (including Gammaridae, shrimps, and small crabs) are taken; also Mollusca (_Cardium_) and smaller marine univalves and annelids in addition to insect food when procurable; and small fish have been found in the stomach by Professor Patten.

_Behavior._--The restless and wary nature of this very numerous species renders it very unpopular with the shore shooters, as its loud yelping cry of _Took took_ alarms every bird within earshot. As they are poor eating and do not pay for shooting, they frequently escape, although a good many are shot. During the breeding season it is quite a common sight to see a redshank perched on a post, or tripping lightly along a rail with upraised wings, and it will at times even settle on a tree.

_Fall._--As soon as the young are able to fly (for only one brood is reared in the season) the redshanks form into family parties or small flocks and work their way down the valleys toward the shore. On the British coasts large reinforcements arrive from the continent, but it is not possible to tell whether the birds which remain throughout the winter are visitors from the north or locally bred birds. In Iceland they leave about the end of September or early in October, and on the British coasts are most numerous from mid-July to mid-November.

_Winter._--The main winter quarters of this species are in Africa, but it is of scarce occurrence in the south; and also in southwestern Asia; farther east in Asia it is replaced by other races, which winter in India, the Malay Peninsula, and the islands of Malaysia.

DISTRIBUTION

_Breeding range._--In Iceland and the Faeroes the breeding race is _T. totanus robustus_. The typical race (_T. totanus totanus_) breeds in suitable localities throughout the British Isles and the Continent of Europe, north to latitude 71° in Norway, rare in North Finland, and scarce in Russian Lapland, while it is absent from the islands off the North Russian coast and reaches about latitude 58° N. in the Urals and 56-1/2° in West Siberia. Southward its range extends to Andalusia, northern Italy, Sardinia, and in small numbers to Greece, as well as at over 6,000 feet in the Caucasus. Probably it also nests in Morocco, though this has not yet been proved, and perhaps also in Tunisia, while in West Asia it breeds in Turkestan. East Asiatic birds apparently belong to another race or races.

_Winter range._--The Iceland race (_T. totanus robustus_) passes through the British Isles and has been recorded from Morocco. The typical race (_T. totanus totanus_) winters in small numbers in the British Isles and also on the Scandinavian coast, but not in Central Europe, crossing the Mediterranean and wintering in Africa, where it has been recorded in Cape Province and Natal, but only in small numbers, the majority evidently wintering in the Tropics. Eastward it is found in the marshes of Iraq and the shores of the Persian Gulf, but probably Indian birds and those which winter in Ceylon, the Andamans, Malay Peninsula, China, Hainan, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Philippines, Celebes, Sunda Islands, and Japan belong to other races.

_Spring migration._--The passage northward at the Straits of Gibraltar takes place in March and April, while in Tunisia most leave in April, though specimens have been obtained in June (probably non-breeders); and in Egypt it stays till April. In Abyssinia it has been met with in March (March 12, Zoulla) and most leave the marshes of Iraq in mid-May, though some stay till the end of the month. It passes Malta in March and April, and nearly all have left Greece by May, but passes Cyprus in April, arriving in Holland and Denmark in April and Sweden late in that month and reaching Finland early in May. Large numbers passed over St. Catherine's Light in the Isle of Wight from 2.30 a. m. till dawn on April 3 and 4, 1910.

_Fall migration._--In south Sweden it leaves in September and also departs from Denmark and Holland about the same time. The passage at the Straits of Gibraltar takes place in September and October and in Malta in September, while in the Iraq marshes the first arrivals take place at the end of July, but the majority come in August, and it is recorded from Fao in August and September, arriving in Egypt in September, while it has occurred as far south as the River Niger in the same month.

_Casual records._--It is an occasional visitor on passage to the Canaries and has been met with on Madeira (March 15, April 20, 26, September 24, October 24) as well as in East Greenland (Angmagsalik April 24, May 29).

_Egg dates._--In Iceland the eggs are laid from the end of May to early in June, May 28-June 8 (six dates), June 9-18 (five dates). In the British Isles the first eggs are laid at the end of March and through April and May, but late records in May, even in the north, are probably due to second layings: March 28 to April 16 (10 dates); April 17 to 25 (16 dates); April 26 to May 5 (10 dates). In the Shetlands Saxby records the first eggs on May 16. In Holland I have seen some 60 nests between May 11 and 31, but many were undoubtedly second layings. In Salonika eggs have been found as early as March 5.

TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS (Gmelin)

GREATER YELLOW-LEGS

HABITS

The names, telltale and tattler, have long been applied to both of the yellow-legs, and deservedly so, for their noisy, talkative habits are their best known traits. They are always on the alert and ever vigilant to warn their less observant or more trusting companions by their loud, insistent cries of alarm that some danger is approaching. Every sportsman knows this trait and tries to avoid arousing this alarm when other, more desirable, game is likely to be frightened away. And many a yellow-legs has been shot by an angry gunner as a reward for his exasperating loquacity.

The two yellow-legs are still left on our list of game birds, because their numbers do not seem to decrease much in spite of the large numbers that are killed every year by sportsmen. William Brewster (1925) says that he has "failed to note any decided lessening of their numbers in New England during the past 30 or 40 years." This stability in numbers is probably more apparent than real. The birds have been driven from many of their former haunts by increased building of summer colonies, improvements in seashore resorts, draining and filling of marshes, and other changes; so that fewer birds can make the restricted localities seem as well populated as ever.

_Spring._--The spring migration of the greater yellow-legs is well marked on both coasts and in the interior, a generally northward trend. It begins in March, reaches the northern States in April and extends through May or even into June, although most of the birds are on their breeding grounds in May. The bulk of the flight passes through Massachusetts in May and through California in April. It seems to avoid the prairie regions of southern Canada; William Rowan tells me that he and C. G. Harrold regard it as "probably the scarcest of the regular waders. In years of steady collecting, during the height of the migration, spring and fall, he (Harrold) has seen the greater yellow-legs only half a dozen times." J. A. Munro tells me that in southern British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, it is much less common in spring than in fall; he has recorded it as early as March 23.

J. R. Whitaker writes to me from Newfoundland that he usually sees the first yellow-legs during early May: "On their first arrival the high tundras are still in the grip of winter and many of the ponds on the lower levels are partly covered with ice." John T. Nichols tells me that it is often abundant on Long Island in the spring. He says in his notes: "In May, 1919, the waters of a certain nontidal coastal creek, due to wind conditions, receded to an unprecedented lowness, leaving broad muddy shores exposed where almost always water stands. In what seemed almost a magical response to the unusual water conditions, about 100 greater yellow-legs assembled at the creek, the largest flock I have ever seen. Alighted, the birds were silent, and without the nervous _hikkuping_ one associates with this species. Once all got up and circled in a compact flock to return to the mud and shallows again."

_Courtship._--Mr. Whitaker writes to me:

The time for nesting varies as much as 10 days between the few
pairs which frequent the lower levels and the bulk of the birds
which nest on the high grounds. On the lowlands a pair of birds
will take up their quarters near the place they intend to nest soon
after their arrival and the cock bird may be seen high up in the
air uttering his nesting song. He will sometimes be so high that he
appears but a speck against the blue sky. His loud notes carry a
long distance and sound like _tweda-tweda-tweda_ uttered quickly
and continually for quite a long time.

Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1920) writes:

The courtship song of the greater yellow-legs comes up from the
marshes of Essex County throughout the month of May, but is heard
in greater volume during the two middle weeks. It has a sweet and
pleading character and seems to say _wull yer? wull yer?_ Although
it differs from the flickerlike call described in the original
Memoir, which may be heard at the same time, it, too, has a decided
flickerlike flavor. It is heard throughout the day, but in the
evening until it is nearly dark the marshes often resound with the
plaintive callings.

H. S. Swarth (1911) observed some greater yellow-legs on the wooded islands of southeastern Alaska in April, of which he says:

At this time the males were going through various courting antics,
posing with upraised, quivering wings, or running in circles on the
sand bars around the object of their attentions, and incessantly
uttering the shrill whistle peculiar to the species.

_Nesting._--Considering the fact that the greater yellow-legs is such a common and widely distributed bird, remarkably little has been published on its nesting habits, and comparatively few nests have been found, in spite of the fact that it does not go very far north to breed and its breeding grounds are fairly accessible. I know from personal experience with it that its nest is very hard to find. I have spent many hours hunting for its nest on the high tundras of central Newfoundland, where it breeds commonly, and secured only one set of eggs. The male bird is very noisy and solicitous, flying out to meet the intruder while he is a long way from the nest, alighting on any available spruce tree, stump, rock, or other eminince, pouring out a steady stream of invective cries and showing the greatest anxiety, but giving not the slightest clue as to the location of the nest. And the female sits so closely on the nest that it is only by the merest chance that she can be flushed. The high tundra around Gafftopsail and Quarry, Newfoundland, is an immense tract of boggy ground, full of small ponds and muddy splashes, interspersed with mossy hummocks and outcroppings of rocks. My set was taken there on June 9, 1912; it was in a mere hollow in the moss on a small hummock in a shallow, muddy pond hole; the female was flushed, and the four eggs were fresh.

Mr. Whitaker has sent me the following notes on the nesting habits of the greater yellow-legs in Newfoundland:

On June 17, 1919, whilst walking over a big tundra with a friend
(Geo. H. Stuart, 3rd), a yellow-shank which flew up from the side
of a water hole showed considerable excitement, there were a number
of small ponds just there dotted with mossy islands; we beat all
the ground between these ponds but could find nothing, however, we
noticed that each time we approached the edge of the tundra where a
stunted growth of scattered dead larch trees were, and where the
wintergreen, laurel, and labrador tea bushes merged into the
sphagnum of the tundra, the bird seemed more excited and flew close
round our heads shrieking out his harsh notes _tee erk, tee erk,
tee erk_ more fiercely. We decided to hide away at some distance
and watch, thinking this must be the hen bird and we would wait
until she returned to the nest. We retired several hundred yards
and hid in some spruces, the bird following part of the way and
alighted on the top of a bush growing in the moss and there
remained for upwards of an hour, then flew to a pond near, settling
on an island, fed for a while, and after preening went to sleep;
this seemed absolutely hopeless, so we decided to have another look
over the ground. Each of us had a long pole with a handkerchief
tied to the end, with these we covered all the ground which
appeared suitable most thoroughly without any results. I then
remembered hunting for green-shanks nests in the north of Scotland;
there the nests were usually placed on a dry ridge, and seeing such
a ridge near the edge of the tundra I suggested to my friend that
we should go and look it over. We had not proceeded in its
direction more than 10 yards when right in front of me and not more
than 6 feet away on the top of a dry peat hummock amongst some
scrubby tea plant squatted a yellow-shank with a downy young one on
her back. I called my friend, who was only a few yards away; he
came and we both watched the bird for some time before putting her
up. When she did go there were four downy young in a very slight
hollow without any trace of nesting material but a few leaves which
had probably blown in. Amongst these we found some fragments of
eggshell.

On June 6th of the following year I was out on that tundra again
and worked my way towards where we had found the nest, but never
saw or heard a sign of the bird. However, I went to the old nest
and when within 3 feet to my astonishment saw a yellow-shank lying
flat on the nest. I could hardly believe my eyes. I watched her for
some time as she sat there perfectly motionless; on putting her up,
she began to scold loudly, sometimes flying close round my head and
then she would perch on a dead bush near, bobbing her head,
uttering _tee erk, tee erk, tee erk_ all the time. Four beautiful
eggs lay in the slight depression. I had been there fully 15
minutes when away in the far distance I heard another yellow-shank
which quickly approached and was evidently the mate, for they both
continued their abuse until I was out of sight. It very often
happens that the male bird is not within miles of the incubating
female, and under these conditions finding a nest is a mere fluke.
There is one rule which holds good in all the nests I have found,
and this is that a yellow-legs never nests on ground which is too
soft to scratch in. There must be soil or dry, hard peat. I once
found a nest on a boulder which had a thin covering of peat and
reindeer moss on it, whilst the surrounding ground was wet and
mossy, so being unsuitable for making a scratch. The nest is nearly
always placed quite close to a flashet or pond of water; I have
only twice seen a nest at a distance of 20 yards from any water
hole.

William Brewster (1883) found the greater yellow-legs abundant on Anticosti Island in July and, although he found no eggs or young, he obtained "the strongest circumstantial evidence" that the birds were breeding there. The fact that this island has been for many years a protected sanctuary may have had some effect in keeping up the supply of these birds.

Fifty years or more ago Dr. E. W. Nelson (1877_a_) found several pairs of greater yellow-legs about the Calumet Marshes, which from their actions he felt sure were breeding there. He records a nest and four eggs found near Evanston, Illinois, in June, 1876; "the nest was situated in a slight depression at the base of a small hillock near the border of a prairie slough, and was composed of grass stems and blades."

Ernest S. Norman (1915) while driving over a soft and spongy spot in a swamp, in Manitoba, in which his team nearly became mired, was surprised to see a greater yellow-legs fly up from its nest within 1 foot of the front wheel of the wagon. The nest, which contained four heavily incubated eggs on June 24, is thus described:

The nest was just a depression in the moss, with a few bits of ivy
grass as a lining. It had no shelter whatever, as a fire had swept
over the place about a month previous to the finding of the nest so
that there was not even grass growing anywhere near the nest.

_Eggs._--The four eggs, usually comprising the set, of the greater yellow-legs are ovate pyriform in shape and have a slight gloss. They are rather handsomely marked and are practically indistinguishable from eggs of the European greenshank. The ordinary ground colors are pale buff, "light buff" to "cartridge buff." They are irregularly spotted and blotched, chiefly about the larger end, with dark browns, "bay," "liver brown," and "chestnut brown," and with conspicuous underlying spots and blotches of various shades of "purple-drab." An especially handsome set in my collection, one of the most beautiful sets of waders' eggs I have ever seen, is richly colored in reddish browns. The ground colors vary from "pinkish buff" to "orange-cinnamon" or "sayal brown." The four eggs are heavily and boldly marked with large, longitudinal blotches and splashes of rich browns, "claret brown," "mahogany red," and "bay," over underlying blotches, nearly concealed, of various shades of "purple drab." The measurements of 51 eggs average 48.9 by 33 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =53.5= by 33.8, 51.8 by =35.1=, =43.7= by 31.5, and 44.9 by =30.8= millimeters.

_Young._--We have no data as to the period of incubation or in what way the sexes share it. Both sexes share in the care of the young, which are brooded by the female for the first day. The young birds referred to by Mr. Whitaker had left the nest on the second day.

_Plumages._--In the downy young greater yellow-legs a median stripe of "bone brown" extends from the bill upwards, increasing in width until it covers the whole of the occiput; a wide loral stripe of brownish black extends from the bill to the eye; the forehead and sides of the crown are silvery gray; and the cheeks and throat are silky white. The rest of the upper parts, hind neck to rump, are variegated or heavily blotched with "bone brown," "wood brown," and pale buff, the dark color predominating, especially on the rump. The under parts are grayish white, almost gray on the breast.

The juvenal plumage appears first on the scapulars and back and then on the breast. Two young birds, about half grown on June 30, are fully feathered on the mantle; the breast is well feathered, but covered with white downy tips, the wings are half grown, but the tail has not appeared; the crown is "bister," streaked with white; the feathers of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts are "bister" or "warm sepia," spotted or notched with "pinkish buff" or buffy white, whitest on the upper back and most buffy on the scapulars; the sides of the neck and upper breast are streaked with and the flanks are barred with dusky; the rest of the under parts are white. This plumage is worn for three months or more, well into October. Young birds are in this plumage when they pass us on migration, but the buffy tints have mostly faded out to white.

Beginning in October a partial postjuvenal molt takes place involving the body plumage, most of the scapulars, and some of the wing coverts. This produces a first winter plumage which is similar to that of the adult, but the general tone of the upper parts is grayer and the feathers of the mantle are edged with dull white. The type of William Brewster's Lower California race, _frazari_, and most of his series of it are in this plumage.

A partial, first prenuptial molt, mainly in March and April, involving the body feathers, most scapulars, some wing coverts and usually the tail, produces a first nuptial plumage. Some adult nuptial plumage is acquired on the head, neck, and breast, but the head and neck are not so heavily streaked and there is less barring in lighter colors on the breast and flanks; but the mantle, back, and scapulars are very different from the adult winter or nuptial plumages; these feathers are more or less variegated, barred or spotted with ashy brown and dark sepia, and are notched, edged, or tipped with gray, grayish white or white, producing a rather evenly mottled appearance. This is apparently a nonbreeding plumage, for I have seen it only in birds taken far south of the breeding range. At the first postnuptial molt the following summer, which is complete, the adult winter plumage is assumed.

Adults have a partial prenuptial molt of the body plumage, usually the tail, scapulars, some tertials, and most wing coverts between February and May. In the nuptial plumage the crown is nearly all dark sepia; the mantle and scapulars are very dark sepia, almost black, notched or tipped with white spots; and the breast and flanks are heavily and irregularly barred with dark sepia. The white notches and tips wear away toward the end of the season. The complete postnuptial molt of the body plumage occurs in August and September, but the wings are not molted until winter. In adult winter plumage the crown is streaked with sepia and white about evenly; the breast and flanks are faintly marked, or peppered, with pale sepia; and the feathers of the back and scapulars are mainly plain "wood brown," with inconspicuous whitish edgings and notches.

_Food._--The greater yellow-legs seems to prefer to feed in shallow water; its long legs enable it to wade in deeper water than most other waders, and it is often seen using them to their full extent in water up to its body. It moves about nimbly and gracefully, actively engaged in catching small minnows and water insects, delicately balanced on its long legs, bowing or nodding, as if its body were on a pivot, in a very pleasing manner. Much of its food seems to consist of small minnows, in pursuit of which it is very active and lively. Mr. Nichols has sent me the following notes on the subject: