THE KNOT 207 



May the Greenshank makes its scanty nest amongst the 

 heather or coarse vegetation in the dryest parts of its haunts, 

 generally on some little eminence. It is merely a hollow, 

 lined with a few bits of dry grass and leaves. The eggs, four 

 in number, are pale or dark buff in ground colour, boldly 

 blotched and spotted, especially on the large end, with dark 

 brown and violet-gray. When its breeding grounds are in- 

 vaded by man the Greenshank becomes anxious and noisy, 

 careering wildly about the air, uttering its loud double-note, 

 or alighting on the moor and running along the ground. 

 As soon as the young can fly, the birds leave the moors 

 for the nearest coast, and as autumn approaches gradually 

 move southwards. 



