BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 91 



its young are in danger is a long drawn " Twee- 

 twee." Then it goes off into several short notes 

 repeated rapidly, sounding like " Tu tu twee tu, 

 tu tu twee tu," although it is, of course, almost 

 impossible to reproduce in writing the note of any 

 bird. 



The young birds take a little more than a month 

 to become fully fledged, and immediately they are 

 ready, both young and old leave their moorland 

 homes for the estuaries of rivers, and, after a short 

 halt, set out for their winter homes across the 

 sea. About the third week of July the Sandpipers 

 are still to be met with everywhere, and you can- 

 not find yourself by the river side without hearing 

 their musical cry. The next week you may wander 

 along the same river banks and be conscious of 

 something lacking. Suddenly you realise that the 

 Sandpipers have left for sunnier climes, taking 

 their young with them, and that they will be seen 

 no more till the snow and storms of another winter 

 have gone and spring has come to us once again. 



THE REDSHANK. 



ON the lone marsh lands, far up amongst the silent 

 hills, the ringing whistle of this plaintive bird, as he 

 soars and hovers above his nesting site, falls pleas- 

 antly on the ears. In many counties the Redshank 

 nests almost entirely along the coast line, but in 

 Aberdeenshire, although this is to a certain extent 

 the case, nearly every moorland bog has its 

 pair of Red-legged Sandpipers, to quote the local 

 name. 



After wintering at the sea the Redshanks, 



