4 ' SCOLOPACID.E. 



The B-edleg commonly selects the centre of a tuft of rushes about sixteen or twenty 

 inches in height in Avhich to scrape out the small circular depression that forms 

 its cradle : either a few blades of soft dead grass are added, or the weaker strands 

 are broken down and thus supply a scanty lining. The long rank marsh-grass 

 that grows about the roots of the suiTounding rushes frequently meets over the 

 eggs and forms a covering that effectually conceals them in the absence of the 

 parent bird. Unless carefully examined, it is difficult to ascertain where the bird 

 enters or leaves the nest, so closely do the strands of waving grass entwine above 

 the space : at times a track may be detected among the grass and herbage ; but 

 doubtless the bird is able to force its way through the unresisting covering 

 without leaving the slightest trace. Though apparently concealed so as to 

 defy detection, scarcely a nest escapes the practised eye of the marshmau, 

 who has learned his trade by working every spring to supply the market." 



RefeiTing to the nesting of this species on Kockliffe Marsh, Cumberland, 

 Messrs. Macpherson and Duckworth write as follows * : — " Upon Eockliffe, where 

 the Eedshank has nested in increasing abundance of late years, the nest is usually 

 a saucer-like depression in a thick tussock of coarse grass, slightly lined, and 

 carefully concealed. The nests are generally placed a considerable distance apart. 

 The eggs, four of which constitute a clutch, are laid in April, generally from the 

 middle to the end of the month. If a Peewit's egg be substituted for that of the 

 Redshank, the old female will complete the clutch, but if the first egg be taken 

 and no Peewit egg exchanged, she deserts the nest, and forms a new one. The 

 young readily conceal themselves, but their whereabouts may be guessed by the 

 anxiety of the parent birds, which Avheel to and fro in loud dismay, uttering their 

 prolonged call-note, which is peculiar to the breeding season." 



Mr. Abel Chapman Avrites f : — " The Redshank is another bird whose nest is 

 rarely found on the moors, "by reason of the sparse and scattered distribution of 

 the breeding pairs, and the elaborate concealment of the nest. These do not, like 

 the Dunlin, breed high up on the fells, but prefer the rushy fields of the lower 

 grounds and small patches of bog. . . . 



" Though the birds were abundant enough on the Solway marshes, there are 

 few nests so difficult to find as that of a Redshank. She hollows out some thick 

 tuft of coarse grass, the tops of which, twined together, completely hide the nest 

 from view. There is merely a sort of tunnel leading transversely through the 

 tuft, which serves for entrance and exit, and her long neck enables the sitting bii'd 



* ' Birds of Cumberland,' p. 158. 



t ' Bird-life of the Borders,' pp. 39, 40. 



