LIM1GOLM. sgoiqpacidjs.
THE SPOTTED REDSHANK! ‘
- ; The § p©,tted Redshan® i^ a ^Gcae^liati ieare and. irregular
visitor to Die“ British. Islands on (the-spring;. and autumn
migrations. Op. the lajfcfe'&e majorij^rare birdsbefAthe
year, and' these, begin to make thei-r .appearance.- from August,
.an odd bird or two beingHOfica-sionaliy; ^obtained;ias J^i^ias
dJnvembor. - Very-few,-§if any, U'dmain "throughou4^®^.mpter,
for the ^pptted^Redskai^. seeks its.food in fresbyor bracMsh
water, ands$& therefore driven southwards-byb the approach
" $cQlopax fusca, Linnaeus,KSyst. EjTat. Ed. 1'2,;i. p, 243 (1‘7C6).‘
SPOTTED EEDSHANK. 475
of frost. Even in the mild climate of Cornwall, apd along
the south-western coasts of England, -.it is not abundant/
and its irregular visits are chiefly tp .th e eastern counties';
whilst on the western side of England, and in Wales, it.;is
extremely rare at any season.' Pennant; records a specimen
killed in Anglesea; ,it has occurred on the .coast of Lancashire
; and ; the. late Mr. i Heysham obtained p it -near
Carlisle.
As regards Norfpik, Mr. Stevenson considers that,- either
from drainage off-the fens, persecution by, gunners,, or some
unknown cause, the birds which, alight. ;on .their autumnal
migration are fewer than in fo rm e r years/ whilst, on: the:
other hand, examples are more,- frequent, than formerly, oja
the sp rin g -p a ssa g e ,-w h e jt^M '^ h ib ^ ,. more or lessiof the
dark plumage charaeteristicnf, the breeding sta te ^ ^ p e e im en s
in ’the ,S©jE>ty-black garb may sometimes; Jbe see® in the
London markets, and although .it, must not of-necessity be
inferred th a t .theyfhave- a lt been killed in,-this .country yet -
Mr-;.Hurting. reepjdsjOne.obtained ,in; June, 1841, so close;to-
the!metropolis :as, .Kingsbury Reservoir.
It is -„unnecessary -to,, .specify every county in which it ;has
been poticedj fog..although less rare in the,east than elsewhere,
it^.as| occurred as a struggle;.; on, inland stre^Si-and
wafers-as far as Nottinghamshire, i^ o r th of the Humber its;
visits are very* irregular; and in ..Sc&tjand; although-it - has
bepn E a rn ed along-the east coast as far as Caithness, ;y,et,,
according; to Mr.. RA G-ray, - jt has not /been known. f,b -occur
op? the west.. The .same authority states.-(^So&:W.. -Scot..-,
p. 29^vtfetihe finds, from „a manuscript note in“ Messrs.
Bjdkie and Heddle’g. v®Q#:#si ‘'©ne:was shot, by Mr. Stran'g'in
SanTday, Orkneys, in Septembey,' 1849,” bubthere-appears to?
be i^ol^iecoyd offats occurrence in the Shetland#. I
To c Ireland its visits appear? tp - be very? 'rare, and until
recently the bird- Thompson; sayshe shot;near’ Belfast, was
the, only on;<yen record-. In thei^reatrfrost of January,-1867,
%iWever,-rM^.„R. Warren,,o,f Ballina, sho,bone in. the,estuary
.the ;Moy, whigh^ divides. Mayo -from Sligo, and he again
saw and heard, buticnnldnei ohtai-n, this species in January,