THE GREEN AND WOOD-SANDPIPERS 501 



single birds or pairs in such places than to see anything approaching 

 a flock. At the same time, family parties may be seen frequently 

 enough on the marshes and on those parts of the coast nearest to 

 their breeding range. They stay on to the end of September, and 

 some linger into October, when they depart for their winter quarters. 

 Individual birds have been seen in the winter months, but this is veiy 

 unusual. 



THE GREEN AND WOOD-SANDPIPERS 



[W. FARREN] 



These two species are longer in the leg than the subject of the 

 last chapter, and especially the wood-sandpiper are more speckled 

 or barred with lighter colour on the upper parts. Of the two the wood- 

 sandpiper is the slimmer, and has longer legs than the green species. 

 Although, when well known, there is no difficulty in identifying 

 them either together or apart, it is useful to know that while the 

 axillary plumes of the wood-sandpiper are white with a brownish 

 tinge, those of the green are dusky-black with thin white angular 

 transverse bars. The latter species is also much greener on the back 

 than its congener, and at all ages and seasons the light markings on 

 the back are finer. Immature wood-sandpipers and these form the 

 majority of the birds of this species in this country have fairly, large 

 greyish spots on the back. From all their British congeners ttey may 

 be generally distinguished by their dark colour and white tail : cove'rtS:' 

 A dark Wader that gets up from a dyke-side in August or September, 

 and shows a flash of white over its tail as with snipe-like action it flies 

 rapidly away, is almost sure to be a green-sandpiper. It may of course 

 be the wood-sandpiper, but the odds are against it, as the green is 

 much the commoner of the two. 



Both species are, so far as this country is concerned, chiefly birds 

 of passage to and from their breeding quarters in Northern Europe. 



VOL. in. 3 T 



