512 SANDPIPERS AND RELATED SPECIES 



" peculiar love-song " while running along a gate or rail "pirouetting 



and bowing like an amorous pigeon," l may be considered a courting 



action, but of a less special nature. Redshanks are fond of perching, 



either on horizontal branches of trees, on posts or rails ; in the 



Cambridgeshire fens I have seen them displaying, as described by 



Stevenson, on the long low stacks of freshly dug peat, and also on the 



ground. A male may be seen running fussily about in front of the 



female vibrating its body and drooping its wings, and often uttering 



a note similar to the trilling song which accompanies the spring 



soaring flight. The latter is the most striking feature in the 



redshank's spring activities. It commences soon after the birds 



have gathered at their breeding-grounds, and continues even after 



the eggs are laid. It is on similar lines to the spring song and flight 



of other sandpipers, and more especially of the curlew. The male, 



uttering flute-like notes, soars up to a moderate height. For a time 



he remains, hanging in the wind, with the tips of his curved wings 



vibrating rapidly, and then descends pipit-like to the ground. The 



song, which has been uttered slowly, now quickens, reaching its climax 



as the bird, raising its wings above its back for an instant, alights on 



the ground. I can recall the sound in the rendering " dhu-lee dku-lee 



du-lee du-le du-le die-dle-dle-dle" the latter part becoming shorter and 



quicker as it nears the end, when it may be continued to a vanishing 



point. 



Of the courting actions of the greenshank nothing appears to be 

 known, except that it indulges in a somewhat similar soaring flight 

 and song to that of the redshank. 



When the redshank nests on scantily covered moorland or on 

 the shore, it makes a shallow depression in the ground, sometimes 

 under the shelter of a plant or tuft of grass, but as often as not in an 

 open place, so that the eggs are as exposed as those of the lapwing or 

 golden-plover. Gray stated that he found them nesting on tufts of 

 ragweed and other plants, and the lining appeared to be accidental 



1 Stevenson, Birds of Norfolk, p. 210. 



