SCOLOPACID^ — THE SNIPE FAMILY — TOT ANUS. 269 



approach quite near, making a rapid swoop at the head of the intruder. If fired at 

 and missed, it rarely ventures again within range. Mr. Selby obtained one of the 

 young, about a fortnight old, by the aid of a water-dog. 



This bird was observed by Hewitson in Xorway, where, to his surprise, it was 

 more than once seen seated high above his head, on the top of a tall tree. It 

 breeds as far north as the Arctic Circle, in Lapland. Its note is said to sound like 

 chio-chio. Mr. John Wolley obtained several nests and eggs of this bird in Finland. 

 It feeds on small fish, Avorms, insects, Crustacea, and molluscous animals. It visits 

 Eussia and breeds in the more northern regions of that country, has been found on 

 the banks of the Rhine, and is a bird of passage in France, G-ermany, Switzerland, 

 Italy, the islands in the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, etc. 



jNIr. Macgillivray states that the Greenshank is seen in the Outer Hebrides early 

 in spring, and that it generally departs in October, a few individuals remaining into 

 November. Previous to the breeding-season, and after the young are fledged, it 

 resorts to the shores of the sea, and frequents pools of brackish water and the shal- 

 low margins of bays and creeks. It is said to be extremely shy and vigilant, so much 

 so that it can seldom be shot, until after it has deposited its eggs. Many remain 

 in the Hebrides in the summer, and at that season are very easily discovered, as, at 

 the approach of an intruder, even when he is more than a quarter of a mile distant, 

 they rise into the air with clamorous cries, alarming all the birds in their neighbor- 

 hood, fly round the place of their nests, now wheeling off to a distance, again advancing 

 toward the intruder ; then, at intervals, they alight by the edge of the lake, continuing 

 the noise and vibrating their bodies without cessation. Mr. Macgillivray found a nest 

 in one of the Hebrides at a considerable distance from the water ; this consisted of 

 a few fragments of heath and some blades of grass placed in a hollow cavity scraped 

 in the turf in an exposed place, and resembled the nest of the Golden Plover, the 

 Common Curlew, and the Lapwing. The eggs, which were placed with their nar- 

 row ends together, were four in number, pyriform, larger than those of the Lapwiiag 

 and smaller than those of the Golden Plover, equally pointed with the latter, but 

 proportionally broader and more rounded at the larger end than either. The dimen- 

 sion of one was 2.00 inches in length by 1.38 in breadth. The ground-color was a pale 

 yellowish green, sprinkled all over with irregular spots of dark brown, intermixed 

 with blotches of light purplish gray, the spots and blotches more numerous on the 

 larger end. Mr. Macgillivray adds, that although these birds may be seen in summer 

 in many parts of the islands, they are yet very rare, pairs being to be met with only at 

 a distance of several miles from each other. This bird is of very rare occurrence in 

 Scotland, except in the Hebrides, making its appearance chiefly in autumn. 



Totanus melanoleucus. 



TELL-TALE; STONE SNIPE. 



Scolopax melanoleuca, Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 659. 



Totanus melanoleucus, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. VI. 1816, 398. — AuD. Orn. Biog. IV. 1838, 68, pi. 308. 



— CouES, Key, 1872, 258 ; Check List, 1873, no. 432 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 633 ; Birds N. AV. 1874, 



496. — EiDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 548. 

 Gamhctta melanoleuca, BoxAP. Compt. Rend. 1856, 597. — Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 731. — 



Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. no. 539. 

 Scolopnx vociferus, WiLS. Am. Orn. VII. 1813, 57, pi. 58, fig. 5. 

 Totanus vociferus, Vieill. Nonv. Diet. VI. 1816, 401. —Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 389.— 



AuD. Synop. 1839, 244; B. Am. V. 1842, 316, pi. 345. 

 Totanus sasashcw, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. VI. 1816, 412. 

 Totanus chilensis, Philippi, Wiegm. Archiv, 1851, 264, 



