476 scolopacidj:. 



1869, and on the 13th September of the same year ; also in 

 the autumn of several following years ; but it was not until 

 the 30th October, 1876, that he managed to shoot a third 

 Irish specimen. 



In summer the Spotted Redshank is to be found breeding 

 in the northern portions of Norway and Sweden, Finland, 

 and Russia as far south as Moscow. Elsewhere it is only 

 known as a migrant, often lingering on its passage north- 

 wards until June, for on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of that 

 month, in 1880, many passed over Heligoland. It crosses 

 the Continent of Europe by many routes, and a tolerable 

 number remain during the winter both on the northern and 

 on the African side of the Mediterranean. On the latter it 

 is sparingly distributed from Morocco to Egypt and up the 

 Nile to Nubia ; it is believed to visit the Somali coast, and 

 Mr. Layard records an example from Cape Colony. In 

 Asia its breeding-range does not extend to the extreme 

 north, for Mr. Seebohm did not meet with it on the Yenesei, 

 although Dr. Finsch obtained it at Obdorsk on the Ob ; 

 Middendorff found it breeding on the Boganida ; and Radde 

 obtained it on the Tarei-nor in September. Eastward it 

 ranges to Kamtschatka, and south of the above line it occurs 

 on migration in Japan, Mongolia, China, and Central Asia, 

 visiting India, especially the northern provinces, in consider- 

 able numbers during the cool season, and occurring in Pegu 

 and Ceylon, although very rare in the latter. 



The late Mr. John Wolley, who was the first to make the 

 eggs of the Spotted Redshank known to British ornitholo- 

 gists, contributed some interesting notes on its habits and 

 nidification in Finland to the late Mr. Hewitson's * Eggs of 

 British Birds,' 3rd Ed. ii. pp. 326 328, but the following, 

 and more correct version, is extracted from the original 

 letter, dated 17th October, 1854, as comnmnicated to Mr. 

 Dresser, for his ' Birds of Europe,' by Professor Newton : — 

 " It comes as soon as the snow is off the ground, and lays 

 its eggs with very little delay. At this time one may hear 

 a singular call in the marshes, which the Finns express by 

 the sound reevat, corresponding to a word in their language 



