79 



are known to the local gunners by the name of 

 "Wigeon Leaders," their greater size and length of 

 neck always making them the most prominent birds 

 in the flocks of Wigeon with which they are 

 generally found associated in the firths on the 

 coast of Ross and Cromarty. They are also by far 

 the most wary, and always rise first on the near 

 approach of danger. 



I have seen a few immature Pintails, which 

 showed some of the down on the head, killed in this 

 country. They seemed almost too young to have 

 crossed from the Continent, but that I suppose 

 must have been the case, as I have never heard of 

 this duck nesting in Great Britain. 



The specimens in the case were shot on Loch 

 Slyn near Tain in the east of Ross-shire in March, 

 1869. 



GBEENSHANK. (SUMMER). 



Case 95. 



The Greenshank makes its appearance in the 

 spring, arriving generally early in May, on its way 

 to its breeding quarters in the far north, and visiting 

 us again in the autumn on its return. 



Several pairs, however, remain and rear their 

 young in the northern counties of Scotland. This 

 is more frequently the case than is usually supposed 

 in Ross-shire, Sutherland and Caithness ; most 

 writers asserting that its breeding in the British 

 Islands is a rare occurence. 



The nest is placed on the open moor at some 

 distance from the usual haunts of the bird. 



The female sits remarkably close, and on two 

 or three occasions I have lifted her off her eggs. 



As soon as the young can fly they join in flocks 

 and come down to the shores of the firths. 



I have found them particularly numerous on 

 the muddy islands at the head of the Cromarty 

 Firth near Dingwall in the beginning of August. 



