mm SCOLOPACIDÆ.
by Macgillivray, bas been - already described, and since bis
time numerous ornithologists bave made the acquaintance
of the bird in its breeding-haunts.. Although, as stated,
the nest is frequently, at, some distance from water, or
even between dry hillocks amongst shattered pine-trees, as
(described in Gottland, yet it is often quite close to the edge
of a lech» Mr. T; E r fBuckley mentions (Pr. N. H.ifSoc.
G-lasgo’w, v. p. 144) finding one at Altnaharra in Sutherland-
shire, containing three eggs, between two stones close to the
edge of a loch, on the 24th May, 1869 ; and on passing the
same place oh the 26th May, -1871, he remembered the
occurrence, and looked between the same't^o stones, when
there was the Greenshahk sitting-so close on four''eggs,
that she did not move until touched with. the. point %f a
.fishing-rod. The eggs, "four in number,*.are of a warm
stone-colour, sometiritós. with an;olivaceous, tinge;. blotched
with purplish-grey, and spotted'with dark brown, especially
at the larger end; they average 1*9 by 1*3 in. When* the
young are hatched the old* birds are very bold and vociferous,
coining down close do the intruder’s head withe, swoop pand
then shooting up into the air almost perpendicularly. As
soon as the young can ü y ; : they join in flocks, and come
down tb the shores.1 i
• The ’Grèenshank feeds on the fry of fiBh, worms,'beetles,
insects of various1 species, and small crustaceans and mol-
luska. {Like the: Gurlëw,-it-often visits meadows and seeks
its.food among the cow-droppings. Its flesh isoe^dlteht^as
was long sinee observed 'by Pallas. Its note 'is a loud ëhee-
weet, ‘ehke-wêeP; and its ‘flight is strong - and rapid, like that
of mostóo# its congeners'. Similar1 is its habit- of perching
on trees ^especially during the Iove-éeakon.
The beak of-the Green shank is about twouncheSifong,
nearly black, and'Very slightly curved upWardsf j the" '.hades
hazel; the upper part of the--bead, tHe^cheèks^ th e neck
* * Mr. Dresser &.ys"'(B? ‘Europe, viii’. p. 141) t l i lM r , Booth told him-that he
once took eight Qr^enshank’s eggs crujs'öf a aest, in Sijthgrland^hire,:. $ójibtléss
the produce of two females. .
. t Owiijg to this peculiarity,"$pe Gfreenhhank has had a genus^ Glottis, assigned
to it 'by-Nilsson. *
on the sides and behind, marked with well-defined dark
lines, on a ground-colour of greyish-white ; the back, wing-
coverts, and tértials, ash-brown, edged with huffy-white ;
quill-primaries uniform dusky-black ; tail-feathers white-,
those'' In* the middle barred transversely, the opter feathers
striped longitudinally with ash-brown ; chin white | front
of the" neck to the breast, and the sides, under the wings,
whitepllightly marked longitudinally with ash-colour ; breast,
belly,.' vent, and under tail-coverts, pure white ; legs and
toes olive-green ; claws black. The specimen from which
the'figure was taken was killed, at the beginning of May ;,
the dark streaks.and spots on the neck are-well ;defined,'-èhd
almost black; the centre of sopaf’. of'the feathers on the
back is in change to greenish-black, which is fhp prevailing
tint-on the upper surface of the body whgp, the plumage of
i^^F6reeding>seagon. is confirmed, and the lighfrCoJLoured
margins of the greater wing-coveftsf and the tértials1 espe-
cîiliy, are varied with dark spits; The more unifm’jp ash-
grey isJ the phimage of winter ; the well-defined dark lines
and spots assumed in .'summer are not produced by any
partial moulting, or the production of new feathers, but by
àif al|iràtion rîn the colour of'the-old feather,
^T h e whole' length of the adult Greenshank is about twelve
' •pches ; -from the carpal joint sta- thesend b j,, the wing, seam
ingles ; 'the ï s t quill-£e^j|er the longe s t ^
In "’the immature bird the p p ^ l feathers are margined
with fulvousJand the chest and flanks are minutely pencilled
with blackish-grey. : '
| ^ . nestliiig '‘o^tameu ^at ' MuoniQniska M the lL h July,
1 .ashy-white 'on »the under parts ;' the upper parts huff,
.ljiagifudinally, streaked with black; a^rather triangular dark
patch ‘ on - the- crown, and a'faint streak from the -base, of the
bill through the1 eye5 uniting in waved-lines at the1 nape.