504 SANDPIPERS AND RELATED SPECIES 



middle of April and continues in a straggling manner to the first week 

 of June. The fact that the breeding season in Northern Europe 

 commences in the end of April strengthens the view that the birds 

 that spend the winter in England migrate north before the spring 

 passage from abroad commences. 



In its nesting habits the green-sandpiper differs entirely from 

 almost all other Waders, in that instead of nesting on the ground it 

 chooses the old nests of various species of bush and tree-building 

 birds in which to lay its eggs. 1 The nests generally used are those of 

 various species of the Thrush family, viz. song-thrush, fieldfare, 

 mistle-thrush, and blackbird. Other species whose nests have been 

 utilised are jay, crow, magpie, wood-pigeon, and redbacked-shrike. 

 Its eggs have also been found on a squirrel's drey, and on accumula- 

 tions of moss, lichen, dead leaves, and pine needles in the forks of 

 trees, but there is no record of a nest being built by the birds. Hintz, 

 in a letter to the Rev. H. S. Hawkins, quoted by Dresser, stated that 

 he had found the eggs of the green-sandpiper on the ground, and on 

 the tops of tree-stumps, and once in the hollow of an aspen tree where 

 starlings had bred. 2 In the majority of cases the nests chosen are 

 from three to twelve feet from the ground, but eggs have been found 

 in nests at varying heights up to 35 feet. The nests are not in every 

 case those built in the previous year. Thrushes' nests, which had 

 recently contained eggs of the original tenants, have been found 

 occupied by the green-sandpiper, but there is no evidence to show 

 that the species ever molests the rightful owner of a nest or turns out 

 its eggs. The same nest has been known to be used two years in 

 succession. 3 The green-sandpiper does not appear to add lining or 

 any nesting material to the nests it uses, but accepts them as turned 

 out by the builders. Hintz states that when the young are hatched 

 they jump down to the ground. 4 



1 The solitary sandpiper and, in lesser degree, the wood-sandpiper (of which more later) 

 do the same. 



Dresser, Birds of Europe, viii. p. 140. z Ibid. .* Ibid, 



