158 THE BIRDS OF CUMBERLAND. 



spring (1885) he observed some Redshanks evi- 

 dently nesting on a moss on the Caldbeck fells. 



Upon RockhfFe, where the Redshank has nested 

 in increasing abundance of late years, the nest is 

 usually a saucer-like depression in a thick tussock of 

 coarse grass, shghtly lined, and carefully concealed. 

 The nests are generally placed a considerable dis- 

 tance 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 

 wheel to and fro in loud dismay, uttering their 

 prolonged call-note, which is peculiar to the breeding 

 season. 



In autumn, adults and birds of the year leave 

 the higher marshes of the Solway, haunting the 

 creeks at Skinburness with a provoking knack of 

 alarming other birds. To " cut like a Redshank " 

 is a Cumbrian proverb, and the wildness of this 

 species gives a point to the saying. At Skinburness, 

 the Redshank flies up and down the creeks in 

 parties composed of five or six birds, but we have 

 counted twenty in a flight in Se23tember. Sir W. 

 Jardine once killed thirteen Redshanks at a shot in 

 this favourite locality. 



A nestling in down, caught on May 17th, on 

 Burgh marsh, the upper parts are buflf, mottled with 



