GEEENSHANK.— BLACK-TAILED OOBWIT. 247 



resembling tlie syllables " clierwutj cherwnt/' It occasion- 

 ally accompanies the flocks of Redshanks on the mud of the 

 harbours kc, and has sometimes^ though very rarely, been 

 found inland by the side of a brook or in a meadow on its 

 borders. Its food consists of insects, fish, worms, and small 

 Crustacea. If it comes to deep water while wading it will 

 swim without hesitation, and dives well. 



From its wildness it is not often shot, but I have in 

 my own notes mention of its occurrence at Old Shoreham, 

 October 12th, 1838, and two out of four were shot after a 

 very heavy gale from the south-west, on September 19th, 

 1840; also of one in May, and another on September 15th, 

 1843. I have also received specimens from Pagham and 

 from Chichester Harbour. Mr. Dennis obtained one, shot 

 in October 1854 near the Cuckmere River, and a few others 

 at various times along the coast. 



During the breeding-season the Greenshank will some- 

 times perch on trees. The nest is described in YarreU's 

 B. B. (vol. iii. p. 485) as consisting of a few fragments of 

 heath and some blades of grass placed in a cavity scraped 

 in the turf in an exposed place. It breeds in many parts of 

 Scotland. 



BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. 



Limosa cegocephala. 



The Black-tailed Godwit appears occasionally on our coast 

 on migration, but is much less numerous than the Bar- 

 tailed species. It is in fact a rare bird, and frequents 

 marshy spots inland more than the mud flats, feeding 

 principally on freshwater univalves and mollusks. It bred 



