THE GREKN-SHANK. ,-n 



The nest itself is a mere hollow in the ground, lined with a ft-w 

 dry stalks and blades of grass. Mr. Robert Read writes to 

 me:— This species is exceedingly wary, and although very 

 demonstrative when an intruder is in the vicinity of its nest it 

 IS very careful not to betray the whereabouts of the latter ' 'in 

 June 1894, on the edge of a reed-covercd lake or swamp I 

 watched a pair unsuccessfully for more than an hour. They flew 

 around, uttering the most noisy cries of alarm, and kept on 

 setthng on the tops of the young Scotch fir-trees which grew 

 here and there amongst the willow-scrub, perching within a 

 dozen yards of me. It was very curious to observe these 

 birds, apparently so ill-adapted for perching, clin-ing some- 

 imes to the side of, and sometimes to the exu-eme^tip^ of The 

 topmost shoot or ' leader ' of the tree. So bold were diey that 

 thltrecs !'^ ^"^ photograph them as they sat on the summits of 



Eggs.— Four in number, and very handsome. The ^round- 

 co our varies from olive-grey or olive-brown to light clay- 

 colour or stone-grey, and the markings are reddish or diestnut, 

 or even blackish, when they form blotches. Althoucrh the 

 .arger spots are congregated near the thicker end of the e-g in 

 some cases they are distributed fairly evenly over the whole 

 egg and the purphsh-grey underlying markings are decidedly 

 distinct. In other examples, however, only the larger end of 

 the egg shows blotches and spots, and the greater pai t of it has 

 only scanty spots distributed over its otherwise uniform surface 

 Axis, r4-i-55 inch.; diam., i'o-ro5. 



THE GREEN-SHANK. GENUS GLOTTIS 



Glottis, Koch, Syst. Baier. Zool. p. 305 (18 16). 



Type, G, 7iehularius (Gunn.). 



^^P'^l Green-shank is the only representative of this Old- 

 World genus, and is distinguished from the other Britisi. 

 members of the Sub-family by having an upturned bill 

 m which respect it resembles the Terek Tattler iTere/da 

 cinerea) and Haughton's Tattler {Pseudo^riottis luttifer) 

 Ihe outer toe is united to the middle one by a basal mem 



