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."
C. J. Pennock has noted it in Delaware as late as October 12, and has
seen it in Florida as early as September 16. It is an abundant migrant
in the interior. Edward S. Thomas tells me that in Ohio the average fall
migration dates are between August 3 and October 16; he has a very late
record of a specimen collected on November 29, 1923. From the prairie
Provinces of Canada the main flight departs in August, but A. G.
Lawrence gives me September 29, 1923, as his latest date.
J. A. Munro tells me that it is "an abundant autumn migrant" at Okanagan
Landing, British Columbia; his dates run from July 9 to September 1.
This species seems to be a rare migrant on the coasts of Washington and
California.
_Game._--The summer yellow-legs has always been a popular game bird and
has always been counted in the class of "big birds." It is still fairly
abundant, but occurs in nothing like its former numbers. Giraud (1844)
was informed by a noted gunner "that he killed 106 yellow-shanks by
discharging both barrels of his gun into a flock while they were sitting
along the beach." No such flocks occur to-day. However, they are not all
gone, for Stuart T. Danforth (1925) says that at Cartagena Lagoon, Porto
Rico,
they occur in flocks of from 2 to 100. They reach their greatest
abundance early in October. On October 7 and 11, 1924, I observed
over 1,000, and on other days shortly before and after these dates
from 500 to 800. Usually there are not over 100 present at once.
They feed in the shallow open water, on the mud flats, and among
the flooded grasses and sedges. They often associate with other
sandpipers, especially the greater yellow-legs, stilt, and
semipalmated sandpipers. They are surprisingly tame while in Porto
Rico, and it is slaughter, not sport, to shoot them. Sometimes the
flocks are so densely packed that hunters kill as many as 20 at a
single shot.
I have never felt that the summer yellow-legs should be in the game-bird
class, though I must confess that it has some gamey qualities. It is, at
times, absurdly tame; it decoys very easily, returns again and again to
the slaughter, and its little body is so small that many lives must be
sacrificed to make a decent bag. However, it _is_ interesting sport to
sit in a well-made blind on a marsh, with decoys skillfully arranged,
and show one's skill in whistling up these lively and responsive little
birds. After all, gunning is not so much a means of filling up the
larder as an excuse for getting out to enjoy the beauties of nature and
the ways of its wild creatures.
Mr. Nichols explains how it is done on Long Island, where this species
has for many years furnished most of the shooting; he writes:
To the Long Island gunner the yellow-legs and its associates are
known as "bay snipe." Various customs relating to their pursuit for
sport (sniping) have arisen in the course of the generations that
it has been in vogue. Imitation wooden birds ("stool") are set out
as decoys in the marshes over which the birds may be expected to
pass, and the gunner stations himself within range behind a blind
usually constructed of bushes. There is opportunity for
considerable skill in setting out the decoys, placing and
constructing the blind, imitating the cries of the various species
to draw them within range. Where possible the decoys are placed so
as to be seen from every direction against a surface of water; if
in a small pool scattered about, if in a larger water area,
directly off some projecting point so as not to be blanketed by the
land. The larger the show of decoys, the larger the flocks of birds
that will be tempted to respond to them, and one attempts to
scatter them so that each will stand apart, no three which are
close together will be in line. They all face more or less directly
into the wind as would alighted birds. Ideally the blind is placed
to windward of the rig of decoys. Approaching birds maneuver toward
it from down wind, and are so less likely to notice the gunner and
take alarm before coming within range.
_Winter._--Although a few lesser yellow-legs may spend the winter
occasionally as far north as Louisiana and Florida, the main winter home
is in southern South America and very few are to be found regularly
north of that continent. A. H. Holland (1892) records it as fairly
common throughout the year in Argentina but more numerous from October
to February. Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926), referring to the same general
region, writes:
The lesser yellow-legs was widespread in distribution after October
and was more abundant on the whole than _Totanus melanoleucus_. The
birds frequented the shores of open lagoons, shallow pools, or
coastal mud flats, and though found distributed singly or two or
three together it was not unusual to encounter them in larger bands
that might contain 100 individuals. On their wintering grounds they
were rather silent, but with the opening of northward migration
resumed their habit of uttering musical though noisy calls when
disturbed in any manner. On the pampas they congregated during
drier seasons about lagoons and flocks often sought refuge from the
violent winds that swept the open plains behind scant screens of
rushes. After any general rain these flocks dispersed to pools of
rain water in the pastures, where insect food was easily available.
The winter population was thus not stationary, but shifted
constantly with changes in the weather. By the first of March the
lesser yellow-legs had begun their northward movement and numbers
were found near Guamini, where they paused to rest after a
northward flight from Patagonia. In their case, as in that of other
migrant species from North America, it was instructive to note that
the migration southward came in September and October when the
birds traveled southward with the unfolding of the southern spring
and that the return northward was initiated by the approach of
rigorous weather in faraway Patagonia. Migrant flocks, many of
whose members offered sad evidence of inhospitable treatment at the
hands of Argentine gunners in the shape of broken or missing legs,
were noted on the plains of Mendoza, near the base of the Andes, in
March. And during early April the migration became a veritable rush
so that on the night of April 5, at Tucuman, the air was filled
with the cries of these and other waders in steady flight northward
above the city.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North and South America.
_Breeding range._--The yellow-legs breeds north to Alaska (Kowak River
and Fort Yukon); Mackenzie (Fort Anderson, Rendezvous Lake, and Horton
River); and Ungava (Fort George and Whale River). East to Ungava (Whale
River); and formerly New York (Phelps). South to formerly New York
(Phelps); formerly Indiana (Lake County); formerly Illinois (near
Chicago); Wisconsin (Lake Koshkonong); and central Alberta (Belvedere).
West probably to northern British Columbia (Bennett and Telegraph
Creek); Yukon (Lake Marsh); and Alaska (Eagle and Kowak River).
Nonbreeding individuals are frequently observed in summer south of the
breeding range: Nebraska (Lincoln); Colorado (Barr, Loveland, and Las
Animas); Wyoming (Albany County); Montana (Fort Keogh, and Terry); and
Oregon (Corvallis and Malheur Lake).
_Winter range._--North to Sinaloa (Mazatlan); the coast of Texas (Fort
Brown and Refugio County); Louisiana (State Game Preserve); and Florida
(Pensacola, Goose Creek, and Wilson). East to Florida (Wilson, and Royal
Palm Hammock); Jamaica; the Bahama Islands; Porto Rico; rarely the
Lesser Antilles (Barbuda and Carriacou); British Guiana (Bartica Grove,
Camacusa, and Altagracia); French Guiana (Cayenne); Brazil (Mapa,
Mexiana, Marajo, Cantagallo, and Novo Fribourgo); Uruguay (Lazcano and
San Vicente); and Argentina (Buenos Aires, Azul, and the Chubut Valley).
South to Argentina (Chubut Valley); and Chile (Gregory Bay, Straits of
Magellan, Santiago, and Valparaiso). West to Chile (Valparaiso, Puerto
del Huasco, Atacama, and Tarapaca); Peru (Chorillos, Junin, and
Cajabamba); Ecuador (Canar, Babahoyo, and Quito); Colombia (Medellin and
Cartagena); probably Panama (Culebra); Costa Rica (La Estrella de
Cartago); probably Nicaragua (Escondido River); Jalisco (La Barca); and
Sinaloa (Mazatlan).
_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Georgia,
Cumberland, March 12; South Carolina, Charleston, March 5, and Frogmore,
March 20; North Carolina, Corolla, March 15, and Atlantic, March 19;
District of Columbia, Washington, March 12; Maryland, Havre de Grace,
March 15; Bermuda, April 26; Pennsylvania, State College, April 1; New
Jersey, Cape May Court House, April 1, and Morristown, April 6; New
York, Branchport, March 26, and Roslyn, April 3; Connecticut, Hartford,
April 19; Massachusetts, Taunton, April 4, and Monomoy Island, April 29;
Vermont, Hartford, April 28; Maine, Pittsfield, April 26, and Saco, May
1; Quebec, Montreal, April 30, and Godbout, May 5; New Brunswick,
Scotch Lake, May 2; Nova Scotia, Kentville, April 21; Mississippi, Bay
St. Louis, March 13; Kentucky, Bowling Green, March 27; Missouri,
Marionville, March 14, Corning, March 15, and Independence, March 25;
Illinois, Lebanon, March 29, and Rantoul, March 31; Indiana, Bicknell,
March 30, Greencastle, April 1, and Terre Haute, April 8; Ohio,
Sandusky, March 18, and Oberlin, March 30; Michigan, Hillsdale, March
31, Ann Arbor, April 9, and Detroit, April 11; Ontario, Oshawa, April
19, Ottawa, April 25, and Reaboro, April 30; Iowa, Sioux City, March 11,
and Iowa City, March 30; Wisconsin, Fox Lake, April 3, New London, April
7, and Milwaukee, April 8; Minnesota, Jackson, March 18, Heron Lake,
March 24, and Lanesboro, April 7; central and northern Texas, San
Antonio, March 20, Dallas, March 22, Bonham, March 23, and Electra,
March 24; Oklahoma, Caddo, March 11, and Copan, March 28; Kansas, Leroy,
March 12, and Manhattan, March 23; Nebraska, Falls City, March 23,
Callaway, March 26, and Lincoln, March 27; South Dakota, Forestburg,
April 1, Harrison, April 13, Sioux Falls, April 16; North Dakota,
Westhope, April 10, and Charlson, April 18; Manitoba, Greenridge, April
7, Reaburn, April 13, and Margaret, April 15; Saskatchewan, Qu'Appelle,
April 9, Lake Johnston, April 16, and Eastend, April 17; Mackenzie, Hay
River, May 2, Fort Resolution, May 5, Fort Simpson, May 9, and Fort
Reliance, May 13; New Mexico, Glenrio, April 15; Colorado, Durango,
April 5, Denver, April 19, and Salida, April 25; Wyoming, Lake Como, May
5; Montana, Terry, May 6, and Choteau, May 8; Alberta, Onoway, April 13,
Edmonton, April 17, Stony Plain, April 22, and Athabaska Landing, May
17; California, Fresno, April 10, and Santa Barbara, April 24; Oregon,
Gaston, March 7, Malheur Lake, March 8, and Klamath Lake, March 31;
Washington, Menlo, April 27; British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, March
23, and Courtenay, April 16; and Alaska, Nulato, April 29, and Chilcot
River, May 12.
Late dates of spring departure are: Argentina, Tafi Viejo, April 15;
Chile, Concepcion, April 14; Florida, Bradentown, May 1, and Pensacola,
May 25; Georgia, Savannah, May 28; South Carolina, Charleston, May 26;
North Carolina, Lake Ellis, May 10, Raleigh, May 18, and Cape Hatteras,
May 20; Virginia, Chesapeake Bay, May 12, and Hog Island, May 16;
District of Columbia, Washington, May 17; Maryland, Patapsco, May 17;
Pennsylvania, State College, May 17, Doylestown, May 20, and Limerick,
May 22; New Jersey, Hackettstown, May 16, and Morristown, May 19; New
York, Amagansett, May 25, Rockaway, June 1, and Locust Grove, June 7;
Connecticut, Norwalk, May 22; Massachusetts, Boston, May 20, and Woods
Hole, May 24; Vermont, Wells River, June 3; Maine, Winthrop, June 1;
Louisiana, Vermilion Bay, April 27; Mississippi, Bay St. Louis, May 10;
Arkansas, Stuttgart, May 14; Illinois, Chicago, May 15, De Kalb, May 23,
and Rantoul, May 26; Indiana, Terre Haute, May 12, Hobart, May 13, and
Bicknell, May 18; Ohio, Painesville, May 26, Columbus, May 28, and
Oberlin, May 30; Michigan, Manistee, May 20; Ontario, Modoc, May 28, and
Ottawa, May 31; Iowa, Waterloo, May 30, Forest City, May 31, and Sioux
City, June 4; Wisconsin, New Richmond, May 15, La Crosse, May 21, and
Madison, May 27; Minnesota, Clarissa, May 23, and Jackson, May 27;
Texas, Dallas, May 20, Brownsville, May 24, and Huntsville, May 28;
Oklahoma, Copan, May 19; Kansas, Ellis, May 18, and Wichita, May 20;
Nebraska, Long Pine, May 16, Badger, May 19, and Lincoln, May 20; South
Dakota, Vermilion, May 28, Harrison, May 29, and Sioux Falls, June 11;
North Dakota, Charlson, May 17, Bismarck, May 18, and Harrisburg, June
11; Manitoba, Aweme, May 20, Margaret, June 1, and Whitewater Lake, June
10; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 28, Touchwood Hills, May 30, and
South Qu'Appelle, June 1; New Mexico, Glenrio, May 16; Colorado, Barr,
May 17, and Boulder, May 20; Wyoming, Laramie River, June 1; Montana,
Choteau, May 26, Corvallis, May 31, and Terry, June 12; California,
Fresno, May 12; Oregon, Lawen, May 10, and Klamath Lake, May 18; and
British Columbia, Mirror Lake, May 30.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of fall arrival are: British Columbia,
Okanagan Landing, July 9, and Atlin, July 12; Washington, Tacoma, July
7, Ozette Island, July 11, and The Olympiades, July 12; Oregon, Malheur
Lake, July 1, and Corvallis, July 10; California, Goleta, August 11, and
Santa Barbara, August 16; Montana, Milk River, July 25, and Billings,
July 31; Wyoming, Camp Carling, July 28; Colorado, Barr, July 5,
Boulder, July 9, and Sterling, July 22; Arizona, San Bernardino Ranch,
August 2; New Mexico, Guadalupe Mountains, August 7, and State College,
August 10; Saskatchewan, Quill Lake, July 5, and Kiddleston, July 7;
Manitoba, Margaret, July 4, Oak Lake, July 12, and Shoal Lake, July 13;
South Dakota, Forestburg, July 1, and Pine Ridge Reservation, July 12;
Nebraska, Valentine, July 11, and Lincoln, July 14; Oklahoma, Copan,
August 7; Minnesota, Hallock, July 6, and St. Vincent, July 23;
Wisconsin, Madison, July 22, and North Freedom, July 28; Iowa,
Winnebago, July 27, Sioux City, August 3, and Wall Lake, August 4;
Ontario, Lac Seul, July 5, Port Dover, July 17, and Toronto, July 18;
Michigan, Jackson, July 17; Ohio, Cedar Point, July 5, Bay Point, July
11, and Youngstown, July 27; Indiana, Hobart, July 9; Illinois, Chicago,
July 2, La Grange, July 4, and Addison, July 19; Mississippi, Biloxi,
July 12, and Bay St. Louis, July 13; Nova Scotia, Wolfville, July 27;
Maine, Pittsfield, July 26; Vermont, Rutland, July 27; Massachusetts,
Chatham, July 4, Harvard, July 13, and Cape Cod, July 15; Connecticut,
North Haven, July 21; New York, Mastic, June 24, East Hampton, July 8,
and Geneva, July 16; New Jersey, Parkerton, July 1, Cape May, July 4,
and Long Beach, July 9; Maryland, Ocean City, July 20; Bermuda, July 13;
Virginia, Wallops Island, July 26; North Carolina, Currituck Sound, July
5, and Pea and Bodie Islands, July 8; South Carolina, Charleston, July
15; Florida, Ponce Park, July 12, Key West, July 16, and Pensacola, July
18; the Lesser Antilles, Barbados, July 4, Grenada, July 10, and St.
Croix, July 26; and Argentina, Las Palmas, July 31.