GBKENSHANK. 553 



rare. The Zoological Society have received specimens from 

 Trebizond, by favour of Keith Abbott, Esq. M. Julian 

 Desjardins communicated to the Zoological Society, in ]833, 

 a description of this bird taken from a specimen killed in 

 Mauritius : the bird not being known to have j^reviously oc- 

 curred in the island. According to Pennant it had been 

 found in India and in China. M. Temminck has received 

 specimens from Bengal. Dr. Horsfield includes the Green- 

 shank in his catalogue of the Birds of Java ; and M. Tem- 

 minck remarks, that the examples of this bird received by 

 him from the island of Sunda, and the Moluccas, in every 

 respect resemble those of Europe, but are always in the plu- 

 mage of winter. Montagu, in his Ornithological Dictionary, 

 said that this bird had been observed in America, in the pro- 

 vince of New York ; and Mr. Audubon has since found it 

 in Florida. 



The beak of the Greenshank is about two inches long, 

 nearly black, and very slightly curved upwards ; the irides 

 hazel ; the upper part of the head, the cheeks, the neck on 

 the sides and behind, marked Avith well defined dark lines, 

 on a ground colour of greyish white ; the back, wing-coverts, 

 and tertials, ash brown, edged with bufFy white ; quill-pri- 

 maries uniform dusky black ; tail-feathers white, those in the 

 middle barred transversely, the outer feathers striped longi- 

 tudinally with ash brown ; chin white ; front of the neck to 

 the breast, and the sides, under the wings, white, slightly 

 marked longitudinally with ash colour ; breast, belly, vent, 

 and under tail-coverts, pure white ; legs and toes, olive green; 

 claws, black. The specimen from which our figure was taken, 

 was killed at the beginning of May ; the dark streaks and 

 spots on the neck are well defined, and almost black ; the 

 centre of some of the feathers on the back, is in change to 

 greenish black, which is the prevailing tint on the upper sur- 

 face of the body when the plumage of thf^ ^ .eding season is 



