season, and after the young are fledged, it resorts to the shores o f the sea, frequenting pools of brackish
water and the shallow margins o f bays and creeks. It is extremely shy and vigilant, insomuch that one can
very seldom shoot it, unless after it has deposited its eggs. Many remain during the summer, when they
are to be found by the lakes in the interior, o f 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
o f its nest, now wheeling off to a distance, again advancing, and a t intervals alighting by the edge o f the
lake, when it continues its cries, vibrating its body all the while.
“ A nest found in the island of Harris, a t a considerable distance from a small lake, consisted of a few
fragments of heath and some blades of grass, placed in a shallow cavity scraped in the turf, on a slight
eminence—covered chiefly with moss, lichens, some carices, and short heath. The eggs, placed with their
narrow ends together, were four in number, pyriform, and o f a pale yellowish green, sprinkled all over with
irregular spots of dark brown intermixed with blotches o f light purplish grey, the spots and, especially, the
blotches being most numerous at the larger end. The dimensions o f one of them was exactly two inches
by one inch and three-eighths.
“ In ordinary circumstances the Greenshank searches the shores in muddy places for food, often walking
out into the water until it nearly reaches to the tarsal joint. It generally advances with rapidity, running
rather than walking, and almost continually vibrating its body. On being disturbed it stands with upraised
neck, emits a succession of loud and shrill cries, and, though there should be little danger, it flies off to a
distance. Its flight is rapid, gliding, and devious; and it alights abruptly, runs to some distance, stands and
vibrates.”
For the following note, on the occurrence o f the bird in another p art of Scotland, I am indebted to the
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 than 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 o f the Redshank, in its search for food along the margins o f the ebb.
I have never seen it, except on the shore o f our deep arms o f the sea. Its flesh is excellent, far superior to
that o f the Redshank.”
The late Mr. W heelwright, in his ‘ Notes on the Ornithology of Lapland,’ says :— “ The finest, and perhaps
the commonest of the Waders is the Greenshank; it is one o f 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 o f the Green Sandpiper. The wild nature, of the bird, its loud,
shrill cry o f ‘ c/ee-wheet, chee-wheet ’ as it dashes through the air with the speed o f an arrow, and its partiality
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 fo re st; and I have
met with three or four families in the same spot. It is now that the wild cry o f this bird is heard to perfection
if you enter the swamp with a d o g ; and it is a pleasing sight to see how little fear the old birds
display in endeavouring to drive the intruder from the spot. No trying to allure him away by sham pretences,
as the Lapwing and many other birds do, but a downright courageous attack, which never ceases
until the dog is fairly beaten off. I have often seen the Greenshank settle in a tree.”
Like many of the other Sandpipers, the Greenshank is subject to a seasonable change in the colouring o f its
plumage, though not to so great an extent as the Knot and Dunlin. At the season o f reproduction the
plumage is much darker than in winter, the increased depth o f colour being due to the centre o f the feathers
being more or less streaked with black. The birds o f the first autumn have the delicate grey feathers of
their upper surface margined with a still lighter tint, imparting to them a very pretty appearance.
At all seasons the two sexes are alike in colour, and but little different in size, the female being the
larger of the two.
The Plate represents the bird of the natural size, with a reduced figure in the distance.