GREENSHANK 349 
shank so incessant in its cry, though its piping alarm-note 
may be heard if it detects an enemy on the open strand, 
even at a distance of two or three hundred yards. Young 
birds are naturally less wary, but even they are very timid. 
I have seen them take flight at the sound of a train, 
an electric car, or other vehicle, passing along the coast, 
while many wading-birds, even the restless Redshanks, con- 
tinued to feed unconcernedly on the ooze. 
It is, in fact, an exceedingly timid and wary bird, most 
difficult of approach, though outwardly it appears less excit- 
able than many other Sandpipers. The peculiar habit, so 
constant in the group of Totanus, of nodding the head 
and flirting the tail is not marked to such an extent as in 
many other species. The numbers which consort together 
seldom exceed half-a-dozen. When these birds first arrive 
in early autumn, old and young may be seen together, 
forming family parties, though when feeding, they usually 
scatter widely on the ooze. At the slightest provocation 
the parent-birds take wing, warning the young by their 
loud piping cries. The latter instantly follow suit, and 
joining their parents, flit across the sands in search of 
another feeding-ground. 
This species is rather fond of gullies and drains, the beds 
of which are composed of shmy, sinking ooze, often black 
and foul-smelling. Such places are difficult and dangerous 
to traverse. I have a vivid recollection of once sinking up 
to my middle in an ooze-flat when endeavouring to pursue 
a wounded Greenshank, which, despite all my efforts to 
secure it, floated down the channel and was carried to sea 
by the ebbing tide. 
But like the Redshank the Greenshank does not confine 
itself to such localities. It may be met with wading along 
the edge of a clear fresh-water rivulet near the sea; rocky 
coasts are less frequently resorted to, though I have dis- 
turbed a pair of Greenshanks from a ledge on the face of 
a high precipitous cliff on the Donegal coast. Groups of 
these birds often cross over from the mainland to adjacent 
islands, especially at high water when the sands and ooze- 
flats are covered. 
This bird can both swim and dive. It has been known, 
during flight, to plunge repeatedly under the surface of 
the water to escape the talons of the Falcon (Warren). 
Like other Sandpipers it occasionally perches on trees. 
Flight.—Though very rapid and buoyant on the wing, 
