112 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



That it may breed in limited numbers along the north coast I do 

 not deny, but the matter requires more careful attention before 

 anything positive can be affirmed. Personally I would not be 

 surprised if the AVhimbrel were proved to be entirely absent 

 during the nesting season. 



THE EEDSHANK. 



TOTANUS CALIDRIS {Unnaeus). 



This is another species which is confined to a single locality in 

 the west, so far as I have found : there it breeds in considerable 

 numbers. It is common in tht3 east of the county, about Lairg 

 and elsewhere. I have also obtained eggs from the extreme north- 

 east. Mr Crawford describes it as less plentiful around Tongue 

 than the Greenshank. The same remark is applicable to the 

 district of Assynt ; because, though the Eedshank is plentiful in 

 one locality there, it is absent from almost all others, whereas the 

 Greenshank is much more generally distributed, though rarely 

 more than two pairs breed in the same locality. 



COMMON SANDPIPER. 



TRINGOIDES HYPOLEUCUS {Unnaeus). 



This chaste-looking little bird is exceedingly abundant; generally 

 found on the lochs which lie at no great altitude, or on the banks 

 of small burns. It arrives in Sutherland, as nearly as I can 

 ascertain, in the last week of April, which is a little later than in 

 more southern counties. Upon the summit of Ben Chaorin, wliich 

 is about 2,700 feet above the sea, in two successive seasons I have 

 met with one pair of these birds, evidently breeding. This, how- 

 ever, is the only instance I know of its being found at such an 

 altitude in this county, though I understand it is occasionally met 

 with, at an even higher elevation, in one or two other localities in 

 Scotland. I have found the nest of this species sometimes pro- 

 tected above by a projecting rock or boulder, but it is generally 

 placed on the open ground amongst grass.' It breeds on the 

 islands and shores of both inland and sea lochs. 



Ohs. The Purple Sandpiper, Tringa maritima, Brunnich, has 

 frequently been observed on our coasts in summer. On the 

 Badcall islands, on May 26th, 18G8, 1 distinctly saw one specimen. 

 It rose from the rocks on the shore of the outermost island, Mhael 



