62 TOUR IN SUTHERLAND. CH. IV. 



lake, and we presently saw them swimming far out 

 with the old bird. The number of young redshanks, 

 peewits, etc., seemed very great. The terrier found 

 them everywhere. The redshank has a merry and 

 not unmusical note as he flies round and round 

 with great rapidity on his nest being approached. 

 I saw no greenshanks about Loch Naver, but 

 plenty of them about the smaller and more lonely 

 rushy lakes on the hills. The note of the green- 

 shank is musical, and not quite so shrill as that 

 of the redshank. Its flight, too, is different, mak- 

 ing longer strokes with the wing ; it darts with 

 sudden jerks through the air, somewhat in the 

 manner of a dragon-fly ; sometimes hovering, and 

 then darting downwards with great quickness. 

 The nest of the greenshank is particularly difficult 

 to find. I never found one myself, and have only 

 once heard of its having been discovered. There is 

 a peculiarity about the egg which, though difficult 

 to describe, immediately strikes the observer, if he 

 is at all learned in birds' eggs. The prevailing- 

 colour is olive-green. The shell seems of a fine 

 texture, and the spots are small, but numerous. 



A forester brought me four eggs, which he said 

 were those of the jack snipe. Though I have 

 every reason for thinking that he would not wil- 

 fully have deceived me, I suspect that he was mis- 



