GREENSHANK 103 



Here, too, may be parenthetically mentioned the lesser yellowshank 

 {Totanus flavipes) 'AX\di the greater yellowshank (7". nielanolenciis), whose 

 claims to be regarded as British birds are of the very slenderest, only 

 one well-authenticated instance of the occurrence of each in the British 

 Isles, namely, one of the former in Nottinghamshire during the winter 

 of 1 854-1 8 5 5, and one of the latter in Cornwall in 1871, having been 

 recorded during the nineteenth century. The genuineness of a third 

 record, from the neighbourhood of Tadcaster in 1858, is doubtful. 

 Both species are American. 



Greenshank With the greenshank, the Totanus canescens of some 

 (Totanus elottis) zoologists and the Glottis nebidarius of others, we 

 revert to the list of well-established British species. 

 It is on account of the slight upper curvature of the beak that this 

 species (in which the length of the wing exceeds 6 inches) has been 

 referred to a genus by itself {Glottis), but such a course seems un- 

 necessary. Another distinctive feature of the species is the extremely 

 rudimentary condition of the web between the middle and inner toes ; 

 while the yellowish-green colour of the legs from which the bird derives 

 its name is an obvious distinction from the redshank. The greenshank, 

 which is the best of all the sandpipers as a table-bird, ranges throughout 

 the eastern hemisphere, breeding in the north of Europe and Asia, 

 and passing the winter in southern Asia, China, and Australia, being 

 a common bird at that season in localities suited to its habits all over 

 India, Ceylon, and Burma. In England this bird is mainly a migrant, 

 less common in the spring than during the autumn journey, and seldom 

 remaining for the winter. Although naturally more abundant in the 

 marshy districts of East x'\nglia than elsewhere, it has been met with 

 in almost every part of the country. To Ireland it is a regular winter- 

 visitor in small numbers, which may be met with on all suitable parts 

 of the coast, but it has never been known to breed. In the more 

 northern counties of Scotland this bird is, however, a regular breeder, 

 apparently in increasing numbers, and it likewise nests in Skye, the 

 Hebrides, and some of the other islands. Its breeding-range in 

 Europe extends as far north as Lapland. 



Weighing from 8 to 10 oz., and attaining a total length of a 

 foot, the greenshank displays but little difference between the sexes 

 and between the summer and winter plumages. In the breeding-dress 

 the head, neck, and fore part of the breast and flanks are white flecked 

 with dusky ; the lower part of the back, tail-coverts, and the hinder 

 part of the breast and abdomen are white ; the tail is white marked 



