GREENSHANK. 223 
which for obvious reasons it would be unwise to define 
too clearly; and Mr. R. Newstead says that the bird 
also breeds on the marshes near Thornton-le-Moors.! 
On May 14th, 1894, we visited the colony on the Dee 
Marshes, which comprised seven or eight pairs of birds. 
We were surprised to find that the nests were not 
concealed, as is usually the case with this species, being 
merely depressions in the grass, which was closely 
cropped by sheep. Some of the nests contained eggs, 
and we came across three young birds in down. One 
of these sought refuge in a ‘gutter, taking to the water 
to avoid capture, and swimming with ease. So long as 
we were in the vicinity of the nests, the parent birds 
showed their anxiety by ‘ yelping’ incessantly. 
Brockholes’ statement that a bird that was killed on 
the Dee Marshes about the year 1864 was, judging from 
the description furnished, most probably a Spotted 
Redshank, 7. fuscus (Linnzeus),” is not definite enough 
to warrant the inclusion of that species in a Cheshire 
avifauna. 
GREENSHANK. 
TOTANUS CANESCENS (J. F. Gmelin). 
The Greenshank is a scarce visitor on migration to 
the shores of Wirral. Brockholes states that it is 
occasionally met with on the Dee Marshes.? A speci- 
men in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, was obtained 
with two others from a flock at Burton on August 29th, 
1891;! and Mr. F. L. Congreve tells us that in the same 
month in 1897 there were a number of Greenshanks 
with Bar-tailed Godwits on the marshes near Burton. 
1 Dobie, op. cit. p. 340. 
* Brockholes, op. cit. p. 11. 3 Ibid. p. 12. 
