TOTANUS CALIDRI S .
Redshank.
ipax calidns, , iura.
Totanus calidris, Beehst. Naturg. Deutschi., tom. iv. p. 216.
— ------ littoralis et striatus, Brehm, Vög. Deutschi., pp. 636, 637.
Tringa gambetta et striata, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. 1 pp. 671, 67!
variegata, Brünn. Om., no. 181.
Gambetta calidris, Kaup, Naturi. Syst., p. 54.
I KNOW o f BO sound more exhilarating to the naturalist engaged in at. expedition to the breeding-lmunts of
this pretty species than th at of its wild piping call, as it falls upon his ear when he first treads the shingly
spits or sandy embouchures of rivers which it has selected whereon to deposit its eggs and rear its young.
The restless males flit here and there before him and perch, one on a stone, another on a gate, a third on the
gable-end o f a deserted cottage, or fly around over his head, with their coral-red legs depending a t right
angles to their bodies, or streaming out behind. During the month o f May such scenes as these might
have been seen in the days o f my youth in a hundred places between the shingly flats and morasses on the
coasts of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, from the mouth o f the Thames to the Dumber, hut, according to Mr.
Stevenson, are not so frequently to be witnessed a t the present time. Similar scenes present themselves in
many other parts o f England, in some situations in Scotland, and still more numerously in Ireland. In winter
most of the low, flat coasts o f the British seas constitute a favourable abode for it, the receding tides furnishing
it with an abundance o f food, such as sea-worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and marine insects. Besides
incubating in the situations above described, the bird occasionally breeds far inland, in warrens, and 011 wet,
soppy commons. Premising that it is both a summer and a winter resident with us, I may state that it is also
an inhabitant o f North Africa, Asia Minor, India, China, Formosa, and Japan.
Selby, Macgillivray, Yarrell, and i i » M «m y writer *#r native birds, from Montagu to Stevenson,
have each wielded their pens respecting the Redshank; what, then, can I have to add that is new ? Shall I
not rather avail myself o f part of the account given of it by Thompson, which Mr. Stevenson affirms is the
best that has yet appeared, with the addition of any remarks from other authors which may be of interest ?
“ This bird appears to be much more numerous around the shores of Ireland than those o f Great Britain;
for even in the north it is very numerous in all kinds o f weather, though autumn is the season o f their greatest
profusion. Oozy shores covered with the Zostera marina seem to be preferred; and this may possibly be at
least one reason o f the great abundance o f Redshanks on the Irish coast, where there are so many bays o f this
description. But they are by no means limited to such localities. There is considerable variety in the nature o f
the estuaries and loughs o f Antrim and Down, Dublin Bay, Wexford, and Cork Harbours, the bays o f Kerry and
Connemara, & e.; yet all are frequented by very great numbers. Even to the low and jagged rocky shore,
when exposed by the fallen tide, these birds are partial, minute Crustacea and other objects which constitute
their food being plentiful in such places. This species appears in flocks in Belfast Bay early after the
breeding-season. On the 18th o f July young birds have been shot ; and occasionally great numbers have
arrived before the end o f the month. From this period they remain, without any diminution o f ther numbers,
except o f those that may be killed; and they are too wary to admit o f any great sacrifice in this manner, at
least with the ordinary gun. The most I have heard of being killed with it a t one shot were twenty-five;
but the swivel-gun sometime* makes awful havoc among them : 108 were killed a t one shot early in September
1846; and a day or two previously 112 fell at a single discharge. When the flowing tide puts them off their
feeding-ground, rather than be driven within shot o f any ambush on the shore, they adopt the Curlew’s
custom o f retiring to rocky marine islets several miles distant. Thither they follow the * flights ’ o f that
cautious bird, stationed a little apart from which I have seen several hundreds congregated, patiently awaiting
the falling o f the tide. When much disturbed they likewise betake themselves to the comparative solitude
o f Strangford. Lough. To see a flock o f not less than a thousand spring direct from the beach high
into the air until they attain the elevation o f the intervening hills which have to be crossed, and then, in
rapid flight, bear straight onwards to Strangford, is an interesting and beautiful sight. During late years
these flights have been taken less frequently, the birds having discovered a tract o f good feeding-ground,
about two miles in length, on the Antrim side o f the bay. They remain tiiere daily in great numbers, about
the time of high water, for eight months o f the year. What may seem timidity or fear on the part o f the