6x8 



SPOTTED REDSHANK. 



In summer this species inhabits the northern portions of Scan- 

 dinavia and Russia ; the birds which intend to nest there arriving 

 in May, though migrants have been noticed passing northwards 

 over Heligoland as late as June 17th. It crosses the Continent 

 by several routes to the basin of the Mediterranean, whence its 

 winter quarters extend to Cape Colony. In Asia, it is irregularly 

 distributed across Siberia to Kamchatka and the Commander 

 Islands ; while in our cold season it visits Japan, China, Burma 

 and South India (sparingly), and North India (freely). 



For details respecting the nidification British ornithologists are in- 

 debted to Wolle)', who observed the Spotted Redshank in Finland 

 in 1854. It appears to choose rather dry situations, such as the 

 tops of long hills covered with scattered timber and often where the 

 forest has been burned, many hundreds of yards from any marsh ; 

 and there, towards the end of May, in some slight depression, it 

 deposits its 4 eggs, which vary in ground-colour from a yellowish- 

 olive to a beautiful sea-green, and are blotched with several shades, 

 of brown and black : measurements i "85 by i "2 5 in. The bird sits very 

 closely, its white lower back being conspicuous as it crouches with 

 its neck drawn in ; on rising it flies round with an occasional tjeiiiy, 

 or stands upon the top of a neighbouring tree, showing the full 

 length of its slender legs, neck and bill. It becomes very demon- 

 strative when the young are hatched, and probably carries them 

 down to the marsh, as they are found there while still small. The 

 food consists of worms, beetles and other insects, univalves &c. ; 

 chiefly obtained near fresh water, to which, as already observed, this 

 species is far more partial than the Common Redshank. 



The adult male in summer (figured in the background) has the 

 general plumage of a sooty-black hue faintly spotted with white ; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts white, closely barred with black ; tail- 

 feathers more thickly barred on a dusky ground ; bill nearly black, 

 red at the base of the lower mandible ; legs and feet claret-red at the 

 joints, but mainly livid. Length 13 in. (bill 2-35), wing 6-25, tarsus 

 2-2 in. The female is rather larger and often has a white chin, the 

 under-parts being paler and more mottled. After the autumn moult 

 the upper parts are chiefly ash-grey, more mottled with white than 

 in the Common Redshank, while the tail-feathers are much darker ; 

 the secondaries are thickly barred with dusky on both webs ; the 

 neck is ash-coloured, the under-parts are dull white, and the axillaries 

 white. The young bird has the upper surface tinged with brown, 

 the under-parts clouded with ash grey, and the legs orange-yellow. 



