Greenshank.
Scolopax canescens, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 668.
Totanus griseus, Bechst. Naturg. Deutsch!., vol. iv. p. 231. *
fistulans, Bechst. ibid., p. 241.
-——— glottis, Bechst. ibid., p. 249.
Limosa glottis, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 179.
totanus, Pall, ibid., p. 183.
Glottis chloropus, Nilss. Om. Suec., tom. ii. p. 67.
canescens, Strickl.
Limicula glottis, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mamm. and Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 32.
Glottis grisea, Brehm, Vög. Deutschi., p. 631.
fistulans, Brehm, ibid., p. 631, tab. 33. fig. 2.
natans, Koch, Baier. Zool., tom. i. p. 305.
Totanus chloropus, Meyer, Vög. Liv- und Esthl., p. 199.
T he Greenshank is one of the most sprightly and elegant o f our Sandpipers. With us it is only a
summer visitant; for, if it ever be killed here in winter, the circumstance must be regarded as exceptional.
Twice a year, in spring and autumn, it passes over our islands, from north to south and vice versa, with
the utmost regularity. From the middle o f April to the middle of May it may be found in most o f our low
marshy districts—such as the Isle o f Thanet, the mouths o f the Thames and Medway, and in all similar
situations in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire. The birds are now proceeding northward to the
highlands o f Argyll, Ross-shire, Sutherland, and Caithness, in each o f which counties it resorts to the wildest
districts, to breed and rear its young. In every situation, whether it be on the sea-shore, in the marsh,
or on the mountain-side, the bearing o f the bird is bold and animated; but on the slightest alarm it becomes
shy and distrustful, and its usual whistling note shrill and weird-like. These traits in the character of the
Greenshank fender it a great favourite with ornithologists. I will now mention some few of the localities
where it breeds ; but I do so with reluctance, being indisposed to be the means of attracting to them the
attention o f those merciless persons whose aim and desire seems to be the destruction, rather than the
preservation, o f our rarer native birds. The wild flats on the borders o f Loch Assynt and the neighbouring
hills are annually resorted to by a few pairs of this lonely bird—as are also the bogs a t the back of Arkle
and Foineven, in the Reay forest, and the moorlands near Thurso, in Caithness. By those who are unacquainted
with the habits o f the larger Scolopacidee the nest would rarely be discovered, since they would
naturally look for it round the edges of the pools and lochs where they have seen the bird running and feeding;
whereas its four beautiful eggs are deposited far up on the sunny mountain-side, or in the centre of
the wide flat, where they are most difficult to find unless the bird be very closely watched. The season
o f incubation having terminated, and the young acquired sufficient strength to enable them to quit
their heathery home, another migration takes place; and in August and September the Greenshank
may again be seen in the more southern parts o f our islands above mentioned. Thence they gradually
pass over to the Continent and proceed to other countries to the southward, as far, it would seem, as land
trends in that direction; for I found birds, both in the winter and the young dress, in many parts of
Australia; I believe it also occurs in the intervening country of Java, and is distributed over the whole
of India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin. Had it also been found in America, it would have been a
cosmopolite. Besides the Scottish hills, those of Lapland, Finmark, and Siberia afford this wanderer equally
suitable summer residences; in a word, the Greenshank inhabits the warmer latitudes o f the Old World
during the winter solstice, and its northern regions at the opposite season.
“ Though of regular annual appearance in the north o f Ireland,” says Thompson, “ it comes in extremely
limited numbers, and is one of the earliest species iu arrival after the breeding-season—a fact to which our attention
is directed by its peculiar cry. It appears in Belfast Bay about the middle of July, and may be readily
known on the shore from the most nearly allied species, the Redshank, by its superior size; its note,
too, though generically similar, a t once distinguishes it from that bird. I t sounds like the word twee prolonged,
and uttered moderately slow three times. On the oozy banks and gravelly shore of Belfast Bay it
may be observed, feeding busily, wading deep in search o f its prey, and evincing a great partiality for the freshwater
rivulets that course through the mud-banks a t low water. I am not aware o f its breeding in Ireland.”
“ In the Outer H ebrides,” says Macgillivray, “ it is seen early in summer, and generally departs in October,
although I have seen individuals there in November. Previous to the commencement of the breeding