234 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



Allied forms. None of sufficient propinquity to require notice. 



Habits. The Redshank is another of those wading birds that changes its 

 haunt according to season, frequenting littoral districts during autumn and 

 winter, but retiring more or less inland to breed. Directly after the breeding 

 season is over the nesting grounds are deserted, and for the remainder of the 

 year the Redshank haunts the coast. In autumn the resident birds are largely 

 increased in numbers by individuals from higher and colder latitudes, and in 

 places suited to their requirements they are the commonest species of Wader on 

 the coast. Great numbers of these Redshanks do not remain over the winter, 

 but only pass along our coasts on their way to more southern haunts ; and during 

 passage in October a great many are caught in the flight nets of the Wash. At 

 all times of the year the Redshank is a remarkably social bird, and is more or 

 less gregarious in autumn and winter, frequently consorting with other small 

 birds of the shore. Their favourite haunts are the flat muddy coasts and salt 

 marshes, but odd birds are often flushed from the weed-covered rocks at low 

 water. They are active, lively birds, almost constantly in motion when 011 the 

 feed, wary and watchful, and amongst the very first to take wing as danger 

 approaches. During residence on the coast the Redshank feeds on crustaceans, 

 sand-worms, mollusks, and other small marine creatures ; but in summer it eats 

 worms, insects and their larvae, small snails, and various kinds of ground fruits 

 and berries. It wades a good deal when feeding, and has been observed to swim 

 across the shallows between the mud-banks, and when wounded it will seek to 

 escape by diving. Its flight is rapid and most unsteady, especially just as the 

 bird rises frightened from the shore ; the long wings are beaten quickly, and the 

 white bar across them is very conspicuous when they are outspread. The usual 

 note of the Redshank is a loud shrill tyii-tyii, most persistently repeated when 

 the -bird is excited or alarmed, when it sounds more like the syllables tijik-tyik. 

 During the breeding season the male utters a musical trill, not only when in the 

 air, but as he runs about the ground, or along a fence or even perches in a tree. 



Nidification. The Redshank is one of the first birds to leave the coast in 

 spring and to retire to its breeding grounds. The first individuals to leave are 

 those that nest on the broads and fens and swampy moors close to the sea, 

 retiring to these places even in February ; those that breed further inland delay 

 their departure until March or early April. It is most attached to certain haunts, 

 visiting them yearly, and in some instances is known to return and breed in 

 favourite spots even after the marshes have been reclaimed and turned into 

 fields. The usual summer haunts of the Redshank are broads and fens, swampy 

 moors, and the wet ground surrounding mountain lochs and streams. It is just 

 as wary here as on the coast, and the moment its haunts are invaded by man it 

 rises into the air, uttering its shrill notes of alarm ; here and there a few more 



