612 Breeding of Green Sandpiper in British Isles. [Ibis, 



and others^ it flew close past lis, uttering the cliaracteristic 

 call of the species twice, and I was able to identify it as a 

 Green Sandpiper {Totanus ochrojnis). Up to this time the 

 pair had never been seen together, so I hardly expected them 

 to be nesting there until, on the morning of August 11, I 

 received a wire from the vicar of the parish, " Sandpiper has 

 nested, young running/' On the afternoon of August 10, 

 Waterhouse saw both birds together for the first time, call- 

 ing loudly whilst flying close round him in a great state 

 of excitement, and, looking on the gravel-bed, he discovered, 

 running about, two young almost fully fledged. On Sunday, 

 August 12, they were so far advanced as to take jumps into 

 the air in their first attempts at flight, and were still there 

 on the 15th. 



The River Kent, where it flows through Levens Park, is 

 typical Green Sandpiper ground, the banks consisting of 

 marshy hanging woods. Regarding the species, Saunders, in 

 his 'Manual of British Birds,' states as follows: — "Not 

 imcommon in the spring as well as the autumn migration in 

 many parts of England and Wales. ^' And also, " There is 

 a possibilit}^ though as yet no proof, that it may occasionally 

 breed with us." In the new B.O. U. list (1915) it is given 

 as "A Bird of Passage and a Winter Visitor. It is not un- 

 common in England and Wales and is occasionally observed 

 throughout the summer, but has not been proved to breed.^' 

 Quoting the same authority, " It breeds in uortliern Europe 

 and Asia, from the Arctic Circle southwards to Germany, 

 Poland, Central Russia, and the great mountain ranges of 

 Central Asia/' Saunders further gives its breeding-range 

 as far west as Ilolstein. 



The nesting-habits of the species are curious, showing a 

 preference for trees and the use of old nests of Thrushes, 

 Blackbirds, Jays, and Ring-Doves, or even of Squirrels' 

 dreys. 



[Until eggs and parents are taken and identified, we feel 

 that we must regard the breeding of the Green Sandpiper 

 in Great Britain as unproven. — Ed.] 



