GREEN SANDPIPER. 645 



to Ireland, and specimens are to be seen in several collec- 

 tions. John Skaife, Esq., of Blackburn in Lancashire, has 

 in his collection a male and female that were shot at the 

 end of July, 1837, on a small brook that falls into the 

 Darwen about three miles and a half south of Blackburn ; 

 circumstances induced the belief that this pair of Green 

 Sandpipers had bred in that neighbourhood. Mr. Hey- 

 sham has recorded several instances of the occurrence of 

 this bird in Cumberland, but these have generally happened 

 from August to October. H. Bickley, Esq. sent me 

 word that this species, as also Tringa hypoleucos, frequents 

 brooks about Melton, in Leicestershire, in summer. A 

 specimen has been killed in May near Newcastle. Mr. 

 Selby mentions three that have been killed in autumn in 

 Northumberland, and adds that John Murray, Esq., of 

 Murraythwaite in Dumfriesshire, possesses a male and fe- 

 male, shot by him when together, near that place in the 

 spring of 1829. 



Mr. Henry Doubleday sent me word that on the 2nd 

 of November, 1840, he shot a Green Sandpiper in the 

 vicinity of Epping, but never saw one there so late in the 

 season before. "As the bird was only slightly wounded in 

 the wing I did not kill it, and it is still alive ; it is not at 

 all shy, and feeds readily upon small worms, first dipping 

 them in a pan of water ; it runs about the room rapidly, 

 and is constantly moving its tail up and down like a 

 Wheatear. Mr. Selby observes that this bird when flushed 

 utters a shrill whistle, and generally flies low, skimming 

 over the surface of the water, and following with precision 

 all the bends and angles of the stream." The nest is on 

 the bank, or among grass by the side of a stream. The 

 eggs are four in number, and are figured by Dr. Ludwig 

 Thienemann, in his Work on the Eggs of the Birds of 

 Europe, tab. xvii. figure 6, as one inch and a half long, 



