l66 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



a less regular and frequent passage migrant, and though an 

 annual visitor to Fair Island, is rare in Scotland and Ireland. 



The Wood-Sandpiper (Plate 68) is a little larger than the 

 Common and smaller than the Green, but, in proportion to its 

 size, its legs are much longer ; it resembles a small, slender 

 Green Sandpiper with very long legs. On the wing it is not so 

 black and white in appearance, for though the upper tail- 

 coverts show as a white patch their centres are darker, and the 

 feathers of the tail are barred throughout, whereas in the Green 

 the bases are white. In flight, however, the much lighter under 

 surface of the wing is apparent. Like the Green it haunts 

 inland pools, streams, and marshes rather than the shore, but 

 often near the coast. In western counties, where it is more 

 regular than books suggest, it occurs on the borders of meres 

 and in sewage farms ; the food of both Green and Wood differs 

 little from that of other waders. On the mud it runs quickly, 

 showing its barred flanks, and if flushed rises smartly, often to 

 a height, but with less twisting and dodging. One that I put 

 up gave a triple call when it rose, sharper and less full than the 

 alarm of the Green, but not unlike a feeble imitation of the 

 Redshank. When on the ground it dips and jerks hke a 

 Common Sandpiper. 



The bird seldom arrives in spring before April or Hngers 

 until June, but immature birds have been recorded in July and 

 passage continues until October. It does not winter with us; 

 but not only has it been seen in summer, but there is evidence 

 that it was at one time a nesting species in one or two 

 localities. A nestling was taken in Norfolk in 1846, and in 

 1853 Hancock discovered the eggs in Prestwick Carr, Northum- 

 berland, and the bird was shot to prove the species ; a report 

 of the nest in Elgin is not generally accepted. Like other 

 sandpipers the bird often perches, and on the Yenesei Mr. 

 H. L. Popham and Miss Haviland found it nesting in trees. 

 Seebohm heard something in the nuptial trill which suggested 



