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PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS. 119 
species that are merely fleeting visitors during their 
annual migrations, and never occur in sufficient 
number to form a dominant feature in the bird-life 
of the shore, they do not call for any lengthened 
description, or minute study, in a work which seeks 
only to sketch the more enduring avine character- 
istics of the British seaboard. We will deal with 
the commonest species first. During the period of 
its migrations, the Common Sandpiper, or Summer 
Snipe (Zotanus hypoleucus) is a pretty frequent 
visitor to the coast, especially in the south-western 
parts of England; and there is strong reason 
to believe that a limited number may pass the 
winter thereon. Its habits on the shore are very 
similar to those of the other Limicoline species. 
It breeds commonly by the side of our inland 
waters, and is certainly, as its name implies, the 
most abundant and the most widely dispersed of 
the British waders. Another fairly regular and 
frequent visitor to the British littoral in spring 
and autumn is the Greenshank (TZo¢anus glottis). 
It is most often met with on the low-lying eastern 
coasts; but it is said a few birds winter in Ireland. 
The Greenshank breeds very locally in Scotland, 
and is best known to us at its more or less inland 
nesting stations. It may be distinguished by its 
white lower back and central upper tail coverts, 
and nearly uniform gray secondaries. Of even rarer 
and more local appearance is the Wood Sandpiper 
(Totanus glareola), sometimes met with in small 
