REDSHANK AND GREENSHANK 513 



rather than otherwise. 1 On the beach at Wells in Norfolk, it is stated 

 that the eggs are laid in a depression in the sand, and a lining of dried 

 grass is added afterwards. 2 There is no doubt that many Waders 

 add lining material after the eggs are laid, especially those species 

 that nest in sand and shingle. 



Personally I have never found redshanks' nests except in grass, 

 and however short this has been, the eggs have always been neatly 

 concealed by it A deep but not wide scrape is formed, showing the 

 bare soil at the bottom ; several such scrapes may be found in the 

 vicinity of the one adopted for the eggs. I have never seen the birds 

 working at these scrapes, but they probably throw the plucked up 

 tufts of grass about in the same aimless manner as does the lapwing, 

 as these are strewn about thickly near the scrapes. 



The nest is substantial about an inch thick of dry grass, and, 

 owing to the depth of scrape, this allows the eggs to come well 

 below the tips of the grass. The shortness of the grass would often 

 leave the eggs exposed, but that the sitting birds curl the grass-tips 

 inwards, thus forming a dome which not only conceals the eggs, but 

 covers the birds themselves. I have on two occasions watched 

 a sitting bird from a few feet away curling the grass-blades by passing 

 them through her bill. 



I have not been able to ascertain, for certain, how the duties of 

 incubation are shared, but I think the greater part is borne by the 

 female. I have seen both birds approach to within a dozen yards of 

 the nest, and when one, which I took to be the female, went on to the 

 eggs, the other left quietly. As a rule the mate of a sitting bird 

 remains on guard at a good distance from the nest, and probably 

 warns her of the approach of an intruder, as she leaves the nest 

 quietly, flying low down near the ground while one is a good two 

 hundreds yards away. The two birds now fly off together; a.nd seldom;- 

 come near the nest until the danger has passed. Not infrequently;, 

 however, a bird will sit close, apparently relying on the'cdnce'aiing : 



1 Birds of the West of Scotland, p. 291. * Zoologist, 1908, p. 369. 



