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.