GREEN SANDPIPER. 



)31 



in Lancashire, has in his collection a male and female that 

 were shot at the end of July 1837, on a small brook that falls 

 into the Darwen about three miles and a half south of Black- 

 burn : circumstances induced the belief that this pair of 

 Green Sandpipers had bred in that neighbourhood. Mr. 

 Heysham has recorded several instances of the occurrence of 

 this bird in Cumberland, but these have generally happened 

 from August to October. H. Bickley, Esq. sends me word 

 that this species, as also Tringa hi/poleucos, frequent brooks 

 about Melton in Leicestershire in summer. A specimen has 

 been killed in May near Newcastle. Mr. Selby mentions 

 three that have been killed in autumn in Northumberland, 

 and adds that John Murray, Esq. of Murraythwaite in Dum- 

 friesshire, possesses a male and female, shot by him when 

 together, near that place in the spring of 1829. 



Mr. Henry Doubleday sent me word lately, that on the 

 2nd of November 1840 he shot a Green Sandpiper in the 

 vicinity of Epping, but never saw one there so late in the 

 season before. " As the bird was only slightly wounded in 

 the wing I did not kill it, and it is still alive ; it is not at 

 all shy, and feeds readily upon small worms, first dipping 

 them in a pan of water ; it runs about the room rapidly, and 

 is constantly moving its tail up and down like a Wheatear. 

 Mr. Selby observes that this bird when flushed utters a shrill 

 whistle, and generally flies low, skimming over the surface 

 of the Avater, and following with precision all the bends and 

 angles of the stream." The nest is on the bank, or among 

 grass by the side of a stream. The eggs are four in number, 

 and are described as greenish white with dusky spots. Se- 

 veral London collectors of eggs have lately obtained the eggs 

 of this bird : one in my own cabinet is rather larger than the 

 egg of the Wood Sandpiper, measuring one inch five eighths 

 in length, by one inch and a quarter in breadth ; pale green- 

 ish white, with numerous small spots of dark brown, light 



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