vated, the fore toes of moderate length, the fourth much longer than the
second, the third longest, the hind one with a single scutellum and three
transverse series of scales, the rest scutellate ahove and connected by reticulate
membranes having a concave margin, the lateral toes, margined
externally with a narrow membrane. Claws stout, rather large, arched,
compressed, rather obtuse, that of middle'toe with an enlarged inner edge.
The plumage in general is close, full, elastic, soft and blended, on the
back rather compact. Wings very long, rather broad, acute, the first
quill longest, the other primaries rapidly graduated ; secondaries broad
and rounded, the inner tapering but rounded. Tail of moderate length,
even, of twelve rather broad rounded feathers.
Bill bright yellow, greenish dusky at the base. Iris brown, edges of
eyelids vermilion. Feet and claws black. The whole of the plumage
is pure white.
Length to end of tail 19 inches, to end of wings 20 }2 ; extent of wings
41; wing from flexure 13^ ; tail 6£; bill along the back 1ft, along the
edge of lower mandible 2; tarsus lft ; middle toe lft, its claw
Weight 20 oz.
Young of the second year, killed in September. Plate CCLXXXVII.
Fig. 2.
After the second moult, the bill is pale yellow at the end, dusky at the
base for two-thirds of its length ; the edges of the eyelids vermilion, the
iris brown, the feet black. The plumage is white; the forehead and
sides of the head mottled with leaden-grey; most of the wing-coverts
have towards the end a spot of greyish-black, and the quills, large coverts,
and tail-feathers are similarly marked, the markings on the tail forming
a subterminal bar.
THE YELLOWS HANK.
TO TAN US FLA VIPES, VlEILL.
PLATE CCLXXXVIII. MALE.
THE Yellowshank is much more abundant in the interior, or to the
westward of the Alleghany Mountains than along our Atlantic coast, although
it is also met with in the whole extent of the latter, from Florida
to Maine. It exceeds the Tell-tale Godwit in numbers on the shores of
the Ohio, as well as on the margins of the numerous ponds and lakes in
the vicinity of the Mississippi, from the mouth of the river just mentioned
to New Orleans, and beyond that city southward. In early autumn, when
the sand-bars of the Ohio are left uncovered, these active birds are seen
upon them in small flocks, formed each apparently of a single family,
busily employed in searching for food, and wading in the water up to the
feathered part of their legs. When the water is high, they resort to
ponds and damp meadows intersected by small rivulets. In the Carolinas
and the Floridas they are pretty numerous, in the former betaking themselves
to the rice-fields, and in the latter to the wet savannahs. They
are equally fond of frequenting the shores of our estuaries that are bordered
by salt marshes, on the muddy edges of which they find their food. I
have also met with them on the margins of clear streams in the interior
of the States, and indeed should hardly be able to mention a district in
which the species is not to be seen, from the beginning of September until
May, when the greater number retire northward, although some remain
and breed, even in our Middle States, as NUTTALL says they are
seen in the neighbourhood of Boston in the middle of June. I found a
few on the coast of Labrador, but did not succeed in discovering their
nests, which was the more surprising that these birds, according to my
friend THOMAS MACCULLOCH, breed in considerable numbers about
Pictou. He describes the nest as placed among the grass on the edges
of the rivers and large ponds of the interior.
The flight of the Yellowshank is very similar to that of the Tell-tale
Godwit. They generally run to some distance before they take to wing,
stop as if to discover your intention, vibrate their body backwards and
forwards, intimate by their cries the knowledge they have of the nature of