NON-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 253 



Scotch fir. Wolley remarked that the bird sat closely, 

 although its white rump was very conspicuous as it 

 brooded over the eggs with its long neck drawn in. 

 When flushed it either ran for a little way before taking 

 wing, or flew into the air at once, and wheeled round 

 and round uttering its note at intervals ; but sometimes 

 it perched on the top of a tree near by. Although it 

 sits so closely, it is described as being very wary in 

 returning to the nest. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Dusky Redshank are four in number. 

 They are pyriform in shape, smooth in texture, and vary 

 from pale brown to pale green in ground colour, hand- 

 somely blotched and spotted with rich dark browni, and 

 with underlying markings of pale brown and ink-gray. 

 On many eggs a {(t\\^ bold hair-like lines occur. The 

 eggs of this species are very boldly marked, often so 

 much so as to cover the greater portion of the large end 

 with a nearly confluent cap. Average measurement, 

 1-85 inch in length, by 1*3 inch in breadth. The duration 

 of the period of incubation is unknown, as is also which 

 sex performs the task. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Dusky 

 Redshank so closely resemble those of the Great Snipe, 

 that I can give no reliable character by which they may 

 be distinguished. The markings are not so obliquely 

 distributed as on those of the Snipe, and the ground 

 colour of those of the latter are rarely green. 



