164 SNIPES, surnames, ETC. 
     
    
   
   
    
     upon crustacea, insects, worms, larrze, ete., moving about in a horizontal 
     
     position, pit-king and probing as it goes. lts llight is easy and well 
     
     sustained, though not very rapid: in alighting. raises the wings over 
     
     the back as it touches the ground. These birds as a rule are shy, and 
     
     keep well out of reach. . . .” 
     
    

    
     25l- Limosa. hwmastica. (Li/nu). Ilrnsoxmx Goowi'r: RING- 
     
     ruum Mamas. ;it[.#—‘L’1ilwl‘ parts black, the head and neek streaked and 
     
     the back spotted or barred with oehraeeous~butfLpriuiaries black or fuseous ; 
     
     upper tail—eorerts white, the lateral ones tipped or barred with hlaek; tail 
     
     Neel, with a broad base and a narrow tip 01' white ; threat bufi’y. streaked with 
     
     blaekish; under parts ehestnutq‘utous, barred with black and sometimes 
     
     tipped with whitish; axillars blue/o. L., 15'00: \\'.. 8‘25; Tar, 2‘25; 13., 3'20. 
     
    

    
     IL'U/If/fliliilfiu‘rll North America: breeds in the aretic regions and mi- 
     
     grates southward, ehietly through the interior, as far as Patagonia. 
     
    

    
     Long Island. rare T. V.. Aug. and Sept. 
     
    

    
     Eggs, three to four, deep olive. hair~brown. or broccoli—brown (sometimes 
     
     paler», usually more or less spotted with darker brown, but sometimes nearly 
     
     uniform7 2'20 x 1'42 (lt’idgwfl. 
     
    

    
     This bird resembles the preceding in habits, and like it is rare on 
     
     the Atlantic coast. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The BLACK-'I‘AILED Gonwir (2.52. 1.21110va (imam) inhabits the northern 
     
     parts of the Old World and is of accidental oeeurreuee in Greenland. 
     
    
   
   
    
     254. Totanus melanoleucus (Cmcll). GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. 
     
     AI]. in sumnm-.~—Upper parts blaek. the head and neek streaked and the 
     
     back spotted or barred with white or ashy ; upper hula-ovens white, more or 
     
     less barred with blaek : tail white or ashy. barred “'itll bluek ; breast heavily 
     
     spotted with blaek: sides barred with blaek: middle of the belly white. 
     
     [IV/mrplanner/(1.7%milar. but upper parts brownish lgray. edged with whitr 
     
     ish: sides of the seapulars. tertials. and wingit-overts with blackish and 
     
     whitish spots: breast. only lightly streaked with blackish, and sides slightly 
     
     barred. L. 14‘0“; \\'.. 7‘ Tan. 2‘40; 3.. 2‘20. 
     
    

    
     I.’«m/7€.-~—North Ameriea: breeds from Minnesota and rarely northern Illi— 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
     nois and .\ntim’>sti northward : winters from the Cultistates to Patagonia. 
     
    

    
     Washington. rather common '1'. '\’.. Apl. and May ; July :25 to Nov. Long 
     
     Island. common T. V.. .-\pl. 10 through May: July 1:3 through Oct. Sing 
     
     Sing“ (-nmniml 'l‘. V., to June 5 :7to ()et. 28. Cambridge, common T. V., Apl. 
     
     1:") to May ‘35: Sept. and Get. 
     
    

    
     [Jr/rm~ three to four. brownish buffy. distiuetly but very irregularly spotted 
     
     with rit-li randylte» or madder—brmvn, 1'43 x 1‘20 (l‘iidngl. 
     
    

    
     It needs only the musical notes of the Yellow-leg to recall memo- 
     
     ries of many days passed along the shore and in the marshes. llalf 
     
     reelining in my blind, I see in fancy the staring decoys, pointing like 
     
     weatliereoeks with the wind, and hear the dull booming of surf be- 
     
     hind the brown sand dunes.