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A Synopsis of the Birds of North America · John James Audubon — chapter 120 of 168 · ~736 words · public domain

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Plate CCLXXXVIII. Male.

Bill a fourth longer than the head, black; feet long, bright yellow; upper part of the head, lores, cheeks, hind part and sides of the neck deep brownish-grey, streaked with greyish-white; a white line from the bill to the eye; fore neck greyish-white, streaked with greyish-brown, as are the sides; the rest of the lower parts white; the lower tail-coverts slightly marked with grey, the axillars and loral wing-coverts banded or spotted with the same; back and scapulars olivaceous brown, tinged with grey, the feathers edged with small dusky and white spots; wing-coverts and inner secondary quills similar, the marginal spots on the latter forming bands; primary quills blackish-brown, the shaft of the outer brownish-white, of the rest dark brown, the edges of the inner, and of the middle secondaries white; hind part of back brownish-grey; rump white, upper tail-coverts and tail barred with greyish-brown and white.

Male, 10-3/ , 20.

From Texas to Maine, in autumn and spring. Very abundant at the same seasons throughout the interior. Breeds in the Fur Countries, up to the highest northern latitudes.

Yellowshanks Snipe, Scolopax flavipes, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 55.

Totanus flavipes, Bonap. Syn. p. 324.

Totanus flavipes, Yellowshanks Tatler, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 390.

Yellowshanks Tatler, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 152.

Yellowshank, Totanus flavipes, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 573; v. v. p. 586.

346. 4. Totanus vociferus, Wils. Tell-tale Tatler.--Tell-tale Godwit or Snipe. Greater Yellowshanks. Long-shanks. Humility. Clou-Clou.

Plate CCCVIII. Male and Female in winter.

Bill about half longer than the head, black, at the base bluish-grey; legs long, bright yellow. Upper part of head, lores, cheeks, and neck all round, excepting the throat, streaked with brownish-black, on a white ground, tinged with grey on the head and hind neck; breast, and abdomen, white; almost entirely spotted and barred with brownish-black, as are the sides and tail-coverts, together with the axillar feathers and lower wing-coverts; the lower surface of the primaries light grey, their shafts white; upper parts black, glossed with green, and variegated with white, each feather being margined with triangular spots of that colour; hind part of rump and upper tail-coverts white, barred with dusky; anterior small. Wing-coverts, alula, primary coverts, and primary quills, brownish-black, without spots, shaft of first primary white, of the rest brown; tail-feathers white, with numerous bands of dark greyish-brown, the middle six feathers more or less of a light brownish-grey toward the end, the bars not extending over their central part. In winter, the upper parts much paler, the lower having the greater part of the breast and abdomen pure white.

Male, 14, 24-3/4. Female, 13-3/4, 25-1/2.

Abundant during autumn, winter, and spring, from Texas along the Atlantic, and throughout the interior to Labrador. Few breed in the Jerseys; most from Labrador northward.

Tell-tale Godwit or Snipe, Scolopax vociferus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 57.

Totanus melanoleucus, Bonap. Syn. p. 324.

Totanus vociferus, Tell-tale, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 389.

Tell-tale or Greater Yellowshanks, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 148.

Tell-tale Godwit, Totanus melanoleucus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 68.

347. 5. Totanus Glottis, Linn. Greenshank Tatler.

Plate CCLXIX. Male.

Bill nearly one-half longer than the head, dusky green; legs long dull greyish-green; all the lower parts, and the back, excepting a small portion anteriorly, pure white; the fore part of head and cheeks also white; loral band with small oblong spots of greyish-brown, sides of lower part of fore neck and a portion of the breast faintly undulated with grey; upper part of head, hind part and sides of neck, greyish-white, lineated with greyish-brown; scapulars and inner secondaries greyish-brown, edged with greyish-white, and lined or mottled with dark brown towards the margins; smaller wing-coverts plain brown, the larger darker near the edge, and margined with whitish, as are the outer secondaries; primary quills and coverts dark brown, the shaft of the outer white; tail greyish-white, undulated with light brown, the outer four feathers on each side with only a series of spots on the outer edge, which on the outermost feathers is almost obliterated.

Male, 11, wing, 7.

Only three procured on Sand Key, Florida.

Scolopax Glottis, Linn. Syst. Nat. v. i. p. 245.

Greenshank, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 68.

Greenshank, Totanus Glottis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 483.

348. 5. Totanus semipalmatus, Lath. Semipalmated Tatler.--Willet. Stone Curlew.

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