‘c resorts to the shores of the sea, frequenting pools of brackish

after the young are fledged,
It is extremely shy and vigilant, insomuch that one can

llow margins of bays and creeks.
unless after it has deposited its eggs.
of which the number in Uist, Harris, and Lewis is astonishing,
At that season it is very easily discovered; for, when one is perhaps more than a quarter of a mile distant,
it rises into the air with clamorous cries, alarming all the birds in the neighbourhood, flies round the place
ance, again advancing, and at intervals alighting by the edge of the

season, and
water and the sha
very seldom shoot it, Many remain during the summer, when they

are to be found by the lakes in the interior,

of its nest, now wheeling off to a dist
vibrating its body all the while.
4 considerable distance from a small lake, consisted of a few

placed in a shallow cavity scraped in the turf, on a slight
carices, and short heath. The eggs, placed with their

lake, when it continues its cries,
«© A nest found in the island of Harris, at
fragments of heath and some blades of grass,

eminence—covered chiefly with moss, lichens, some
were four in number, pyriform, and of a pale yellowish green, sprinkled all over with

blotches of light purplish grey, the spots and, especially, the
The dimensions of one of them was exactly two inches

narrow ends together,
irregular spots of dark brown intermixed with
blotches being most numerous at the larger end.
by one inch and three-eightbs.

“Tn ordinary circumstances
out into the water until it nearly reaches to the tarsal joint.

rather than walking, and almost continually vibrating its body.
and, though there should be little danger, it flies off to a

the Greenshank searches the shores in muddy places for food, often walking
It generally advances with rapidity, running
On being disturbed it stands with upraised
neck, emits a succession of loud and shrill cries,
distance. Its flight is rapid, gliding, and devious ; and it alights abruptly, runs to some distance, stands and
vibrates.”
For the following note, on th

Duke of Argyll :—
«The Greenshank comes to our shores in Argyllshire, and on the Clyde, rather earlier than the Redshank,

but in much smaller numbers. It is often solitary, seldom more that one pair together. It is very shy,
and emits a loud piping note at frequent intervals. Its alarm note is loud and vociferous. Its habits are
extremely active, more so than those of the Redshank, in its search for food along the margins of the ebb.

I have never seen it, except on the shore of our deep arms of the sea. Its flesh is excellent, far superior to

e occurrence of the bird in another part of Scotland, 1 am indebted to the

that of the Redshank.”

The late Mr. Wheelwright, in his ‘ Notes on the Ornithology of Lapland,’ says :—‘ The finest, and perhaps
the commonest of the Waders is the Greenshank ; it is one of the earliest to arrive in spring, and certainly
the earliest to leave in autumn. Having a good opportunity of studying its habits in the breeding-season, I
was struck with their resemblance to those of the Green Sandpiper. The wild nature of the bird, its loud,
shrill cry of ‘ chee-wheet, chee-wheet’ as it dashes through the air with the speed of an arrow, and its par-
tiality for woodland lakes and streams, all prove its affinity to that species; and, save that I always took
the eggs from the ground, the habits of one bird appeared exactly to resemble those of the other. The eggs
of the Greenshank are often laid far away from water. I once took the eggs from a thin layer of leaves
on a stony rise in an open forest, about one hundred yards from a small stream. I observed that, as soon
as the young were hatched off, the old birds led them down to some grassy swamp in the forest ; and I have
- on three or four families in the same spot. It is now that the wild cry of this bird is hedea to per-
ection if you enter the swamp with a dog; and it is ¢ asing’ sig 5 i O; irds
display in endeavouring to oe the eee ee Re os a a ia wae 4 a A
tences, as the Lapwing and many other birds do, but « ' : i ote ae an 0
Pree oe ne Vi aha ee a : oe ownright CO ate which never ceases

ee ane ee settle in a tree.
me oe a as Pee the escues is subject to a seasonable change in the colouring of its

BBS g great an extent as the Knot and Dunlin. At the season of reproduction the
eee on darker than mn winter, the increased depth of colour being due to the centre of the feathers
ee - a aa ee aes es autumn have the delicate grey featuers of

At all seasons the two sexes are alike in Siok ce ae aaah i. te fe
ois: , and but little different in size, the female being the

The Plate repre ce 5 . :
he Plate represents the bird of the natural size, with a reduced figure in the distance.